Issue 12 — A Note & A Holiday Print Sale

Aug 11, 2023

As always, it has been a minute since my last newsletter. When I last sent out an issue of Defender, I was about to undertake a reporting trip to Southern Italy and had big plans to write a couple of newsletters while I was abroad. Given the topic of my reporting, however, I decided it would be best for my sources and myself to keep my location somewhat vague. Also, I was enjoying life outside of computers/internet/social media — would highly recommend it.

Since then, I've been in a researching and pitching phase, and there hasn't been a lot to say without giving away a freelancer's best currency: ideas💡. Having said that, I believe I'll have a new story published early next year at which point I will have a lot more to share vis-à-vis what I've been up to.

For now, I leave you with two things...

In October, I was honored with a Distinguished Journalist Award bestowed by the Society of Professional Journalists, Los Angeles. I was given less than two minutes to share my thoughts and thanks so here's a little snippet of the speech (the image below is a video). Hopefully, I used this moment wisely:

Alessandra Bergamin

Alessandra Bergamin on Instagram: “I don’t often have the opportunity to speak in public — thank god — but for the brief moment I was recently given it felt important to highlight the risks and violence faced by human rights activists, land defenders, and local journalists. - In Iran, where the country’s women-led revolution is now on its 50th day, more than 300 activists have been killed and 14,000 others have been detained. Iran is also a top jailer of female journalists with more than 16 people currently behind bars. - In the past decade, 1,733 environmental defenders have been killed — Brazil accounts for about 20 percent of deaths — trying to protect their land and resources. That’s an average of one defender killed approximately every two days. - During that same decade, 955 journalists and media workers have been killed. In nine out of ten cases, the perpetrators go unpunished. While some media types might balk at my inclusion of journalists and activists in the same sentence, both groups are often targeted with the same kind of state-sanctioned, corporate-sponsored violence that means most cases result in impunity. If you’re measuring your newsroom’s success in terms of policy change, then solidarity with those working to do the same is really the bare minimum.”

December 21, 2022

For about a year now, I've had an online print store that I've never promoted or publicized in any way — until now. While some of the photographs are tied to my reporting, most have been taken in the moments that surround the work: driving at dusk, visiting a park, walking through a town mid-morning. Most are either 35mm or medium format film and I've included a few favorites below. Click the image to be taken to the online store and use the code DEFENDER to receive 10 percent off your order.

Thank you for reading this edition of Defender. I hope this month brings you some downtime to see family and friends, eat something tasty, and relax outside of work obligations. If you’d like to support my work, you can buy me a coffee, or check out my Bookshop page. Thank you to everyone who has supported me so far — it is so very appreciated.

You can also follow me on Twitter (as it burns) or on Instagram. Otherwise, feel free to reply to this email.

Rage On. ❤️‍🔥