Malaysia
Michael Duffy
Channel 7 Network Australia (07/21/2008)
The media can be used to entertain, inform, to poke fun, amuse, outrage or titilate. It can also be used to effect real change in the lives of people without power. Good journalism is that which keeps in mind the media's power to change, without abandoning the skills required to hold the attention of a viewer or reader, to draw them into an important issue.
This story helped liberate 1,200 exploited workers. In the coming months it will help thousands. I travelled to Kepong, Malaysia on a tip-off that Nike's teeshirt manufacturer was using forced foreign labour. We infiltrated the factory and gained access to the appalling living quarters. We discovered a form of modern-day slavery and abuse of human rights. In particular, contraventions of Article 4 of the UDHR, relating to slavery and servitude. But also Article 23 relating to just and favourable employment. This report shamed Nike into action. Nike has now released these workers as well as 7,700 others across Malaysia. It has returned recruitment fees and passports and has begun repatriating workers back to their home countries.
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