Journalists Telling the

 Stories of Modern-Day Slavery 

Like journalists before them, reporters today follow in the footsteps of their predecessors, telling the stories of slavery and other human rights abuses. 



​Following is a selected list of reporting on modern-day slavery, and is by no means complete.

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See an article or broadcast that should be listed? Send us an email at schusterinstitute@brandeis.edu with the URL and pertinent information.

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Selected Articles

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​Bowe, John

• Bound for America, May/June 2010, Mother Jones 
• ​Modern Day Slavery in America – Welcome to the World of  “Guestworkers”, 5/5/10, Huffington Post
• Nobodies, 4/21/03, The New Yorker 

Brazao, Dale

• Exploited workers Canada’s ‘slave trade’, Part 1 of “People for Sale” series, 8/30/08, Toronto Star 
• Big Promises, Broken Dreams, Part 2 of "People for Sale" series, 8/31/2008, Toronto Star
• Nanny for Sale, Part 3, "People for Sale, series, 9/22/2008, Toronto Star

Callamachi, Rukmini

• Child maid trafficking spreads from Africa to US, 12/28/08, Huffington Post (AP) 
• Exploited Children Stories, 2008, AP

Carrier, Scott 

• In a Brothel Atop Street 63, March/April 2006, Mother Jones 

Field, Michael

• ​NZ slammed in US slavery report, 6/20/12, Stuff.co.nz
• Action on fishing abuse escalates, 3/4/12, Stuff.co.nz 
• Crew aid foreign fishing boats probe, 11/03/11, Stuff.co.nz 
• ‘We need more cheap foreign fishermen,’ 10/17/11, Stuff.co.nz
• Slave fishing in NZ waters exposed, 8/11/11, Stuff.co.nz 

Fine Collins, Amy

• Sex Trafficking in America: The Girls Next Door, 5/24/11, Vanity Fair 

Finnegan, William

• The Countertraffickers, 5/5/08, The New Yorker 

Goldberg, Michelle

• ​Today’s Hidden Slave Trade, 6/28/11, The Daily Beast​
• Slavery Still Exists in America, 6/13/10, The Daily Beast 

Gonzalez, David

• When American Dream Leads to Servitude, 4/24/07, The New York Times 

Gould, J.J.

• Slavery’s Global Comeback, 12/19/12, The Atlantic 

Greenberg, Ilan

• Where Modern Slavery Thrives, 6/19/12, Daily Beast 

Hardman, Jesse

• Escaping from Burma but Falling into Slavery, 9/30/11, Time 

Hari, Johann

• The dark side of Dubai, 4/7/09, The Independent 

Johnson, Scott

• One Mother’s Fight Against Human Trafficking, 10/29/12, Daily Beast 

Kara, Siddharth

• Shrimp exports to west tied to bonded labor, 10/16/12, CNN Freedom Project
• Bonded labor stretches from third to first world, 10/15/12, CNN Freedom Project
• Sex Trafficking: A Global Overview, 8/10/12, World Politics Review
• Attacking the demand for child sex trafficking, 4/14/11, CNN Freedom Project 
• On the trail of human trafficking, 7/22/10, CNN Freedom Project

Kelly, Kimbriell 

• Sold in the USA, 9/30/07, Chicago Reporter 

Kristof, Nicholas

• ​She Has a Pimp’s Name Etched on Her, 5/28/12, NYT
• Not Quite a Teen, Yet Sold for Sex, 4/18/12, NYT 
• Where Pimps Peddle Their Goods, 3/17/12, NYT
• The Face of Modern Slavery, 1/16/11, NYT 

Landesman, Peter

• The Girls Next Door, 1/25/04, NYT Magazine 

Lewis, Libby

• Diplomatic Abuse of Servants Hard to Prosecute, 3/1/07, NPR

Martin, Phillip

• Underground Trade: From Boston to Bangkok, 1/8/2013, WGBH
• Human Trafficking in New England: Sexual and Human Trafficking in the Boston Area,
  Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4, 7/8-13/2010, WGBH

Mead, Julia C.

• A Slow War on Human Trafficking, 5/28/06, NYT 

Melnick, Meredith

• New State Department Report Fuels Push to End Slavery In America, 
  6/28/11, Time 

Motlagh, Jason

• In a world hungry for cheap shrimp, migrants labor overtime in Thai sheds, 9/19/12, Washington Post 

Nosheen, Habiba & Anup Kaphle

• For Nepali Girls Abducted Into Indian Brothels, Where Is Home? 11/30/11,
  The Atlantic 

Pleitgen, Frederick & Mohamed Fadel Fahmy

• Death in the Desert, 11/3/11, CNN Freedom Project

Simpson, Cam 

• The Deadly Tin Inside Your Smartphone, 8/23/12, Businessweek
• Victoria’s Secret Revealed in Child Picking Burkina Faso Cotton, 12/15/11, Bloomberg
• Pipeline to Peril, October 2005, Chicago Tribune 

Skinner, E. Benjamin

• The Fishing Industry’s Cruelest Catch, 2/23/12, Bloomberg Businessweek 
• How U.S. Budget Cuts Prolong Global Slavery, 6/28/2011, Time
• Britain's Long Fight Against Slavery, 5/2/2011, Huffington Post
• Modern-Day Slavery: A Necessary Beat With Different Challenges, Winter 2010, Nieman Reports
• Modern-Day Slavery on D.C.'s Embassy Row? 6/14/2010, Time
• South Africa’s Slave Trade and the Campaign to Stop It, 1/18/10, Time
• Pakistan's Forgotten Plight: Modern-Day Slavery, 10/27/2009, Time
• Slavery in America: An Undeniable Truth, 7/11/08, ABC Nightline 
• More slavery reporting by Skinner>

Smith, Michael & David Voreacos

• The Secret World of Modern Slavery, 11/17/06, Bloomberg 

Stillman, Sarah

• The Invisible Army, 6/6/11, The New Yorker 

Sutter, John D.

• Slavery’s Last Stronghold, March 2012, CNN Freedom Project 

Townshend, Mark

• Sex Trafficking in the UK, 2/5/11, The Guardian 

vanden Heuvel, Katrina & Greg Kaufman

• Ending Slavery for Pennies, 4/16/08, The Nation

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​Photojournalism, Photo Exhibits



Chernush, Kay

Sex Trafficking Forced Labor, Survivors photo exhibit
for the U.S. State Department



​Hamman, Melanie

Rescue Johannesburg, 2009 photo exhibit



​Eva Horstick-Schmitt

Raid in Kosovo photo exhibit



Kristine, Lisa

Slavery Still Exists, Lisa Kristine, 9/26/12, The Atlantic



Nickolaysen, Ron

Survivors Argentina, 2008 photo exhibit



Roslan, Rahman

Nur: The Journey Home, 2010 photo exhibit 



Media Outlets Reporting on Slavery

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CNN Freedom Project

The CNN Freedom Project is a media campaign launched by CNN in 2011 to expose instances of modern slavery around the globe.  

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Some of their larger features include John Sutter’s award-winning piece on Mauritania, Slavery’s Last Stronghold, Frederick Pleitgen and Mohamed Fadel Fahmy’s reporting on abuses of refugees in Egypt, Death in the Desert, and Siddharth Kara’s regular posts.

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Guardian Sustainable Business



The Guardian's Sustainable Business desk focus includes commentary and reporting about human trafficking and modern-day slavery. 



 

The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting has been reporting on human trafficking and modern-day slavery since 2008.

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A few of their stories follow: 

• ​Bad Cocktail: Labor Abuse in Thailand’s Shrimp Industry. Jason Motlagh and Steve Sapienza, project launched 9/20/12
• Thailand: The Overfishing Underclass. Adam Janofsky, 8/31/11, Pulitzer Center’s Untold Stories
• Nepal: Rebuilding Lives after Trafficking. Anup Kaphle and Habiba Nosheen, project launched 12/28/10
• Thailand: Sex Tourism, Exploited Women. Deena Gudzer, project launched 8/14/09
• Altar, Sonora: The Business of Smuggling. David Rochkind and Sacha Feinman, project launched 4/21/09 
• Restaveks: Child Slaves of Haiti. Carmen Russell and Dane Liu, project launched 10/1/07  

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The Schuster Institute for Investigative Reporting ​

at Brandeis University

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​The Schuster Institute's Human Trafficking and Modern-Day Slavery project, led by investigative journalist E. Benjamin Skinner, was launched in 2009. Highlights include Skinner's investigative report with Bloomberg Businessweek on slavery at sea; and with Time, South African's new slave trade and Pakistan's indentured servants.

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Filipino Catherine Manuel is the focus of Dale Brazao's story "Nanny for Sale," Toronto Star.