I've been fortunate to be involved with a number of media related projects over the years and I've lectured on journalism at several universities. I'm grateful to all the organisations listed below for supporting my work.
If you think I can help your organisation please get in touch.
My email is - scotsjournalist@gmail.com
THEIRWORLD - https://theirworld.org/
I was a part-time specialist writer with a charity called Theirworld which advocates for children's rights across the world. I reported on how children's education was affected by war, civil conflicts and general violence in societies.
Click here to read my stories - https://theirworld.org/search?q=billy+briggs
BAUER ACADEMY - http://baueracademy.co.uk
I've been a media tutor with Bauer Academy since 2011, hosting media workshops across the UK. I teach students about news reporting, long-form reportage, investigations, fact checking, photography and online journalism.
INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF STREET PAPERS - https://insp.ngo/
I was hired as a media consultant with INSP in 2011 and later appointed part-time editor of its online news service, which provides free content to more than 100 street papers across the world.
In 2012, INSP’s news service was short-listed for Best Specialist Site for Journalism at the Online Media Awards. In receiving that nomination, INSP was ranked alongside journalistic heavyweights such as The Guardian, Reuters, Bloomberg, Financial Times and The Economist.
I left INSP in 2014.
EQUALITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
I worked with EHRC in 2012 for a major report on how human rights laws were being upheld by public authorities in the UK.
Click link below to read the report -
www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/human-rights-review-2012.pdf
LEXIS NEXIS - www.lexisnexis.co.uk/en-uk/home.page
In 2012 I was commissioned to work on the Human Trafficking Awareness Index by Lexis Nexis. Using a licensed collection of almost 6000 news sources from more than 120 countries, the HTA Index highlighted emerging trends and patterns of awareness within and across national borders.
Click here for more info - https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2013/jul/24/forced-labour-britain-media-coverage
FREEDOM FROM TORTURE - www.freedomfromtorture.org
In 2011, I worked with photographer Angie Catlin on a project called Human Rights and Wrongs. Over a period of six months, we interviewed torture survivors suffering from PTSD who were being counselled at the charity's premises in Glasgow.
The men and women came to Scotland from places such as Iran, Sudan, DRC, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, among other nations with dire human rights records. A short book was published documenting the stories of 16 people, complemented by articles in the media and a photography exhibition.
UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS - www.st-andrews.ac.uk
In 2011 I lectured on journalism at the University of St Andrews. I developed an 18 week media course for international students on the Undergraduate Foundation for Business, Social Sciences and Law, part of the English Language Teaching department.
I've also been a guest lecturer at Napier University, Edinburgh. At the University of Strathclyde I taught on a MSc in Investigative Journalism, run by Dr Eamonn O’Neill, an investigative journalist and academic.
PEACEMAKERS OF ISRAEL AND PALESTINE
In December 2008 I visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian territories for a project commissioned by the Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace. It was a joint venture with photographer Angie Catlin and we documented a number of remarkable peace initiatives that get little publicity.
We interviewed Rabbis who work side by side with Palestinians in Jerusalem and visited a unique village called Neve Shalom, where Arabs and Jews have lived together peacefully for more than 30 years. We also met Jewish doctors who forego time off at weekends to travel to the West Bank and Gaza to treat Palestinians.
Peacemakers of Israel/Palestine formed a photography exhibition as part of the 6th Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace.
You can read a BBC report about our project here -
SCOTTISH REFUGEE COUNCIL - www.scottishrefugeecouncil.org.uk
In 2007 the SRC commissioned a project to highlight the Iraqi refugee crisis as more than 4.7 million people had been displaced by war in five years. I visited Damascus in Syria with photographer Angela Catlin to meet Iraqi refugees and to document the effect of war on their lives for a photography exhibition to be held in Glasgow. The project was called Life After Iraq and was part of Refugee Week Scotland 2008. We also interviewed Iraqis who came to Scotland for the project.
A number of articles were published by the media and a photography exhibition was held at St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art in Glasgow from 13 June - 26 October, 2008. The exhibition toured cities across the UK and we were later commissioned by the Welsh Refugee Council for a similar project in Wales.
Click link below to read a BBC article about Life After Iraq -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7449077.stm
MINES ADVISORY GROUP - www.maginternational.org
Photographer Angie Catlin and I travelled to Lebanon in late 2007 with Mines Advisory Group. The project was to document the aftermath of the July 2006 War between Israel and Hezbollah, which left millions of live explosive devices over southern Lebanon.
The brief conflict killed more than a thousand people, most of whom were Lebanese civilians. It severely damaged Lebanese infrastructure and displaced nearly one million Lebanese and, across the border, between 300,000 and 500,000 Israelis.
Though the fighting stopped on 14th August 2006, the war continued to cast a dark shadow. The UN estimated that Israel dropped four million bombs during the 34-day war. During the last 48 hours of the conflict alone, around one million cluster bombs were dropped into southern Lebanon.
The consequences for the local population were catastrophic as huge swathes of land were rendered uninhabitable.
Click link below to our report published by Relief Web -
https://reliefweb.int/report/lebanon/lebanon-tackling-lethal-legacy-conflict
BHOPAL MEDICAL APPEAL - https://bhopal.org
In 2009 I visited India with a photographer from London called David Graham, to mark the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal gas disaster. We spent two weeks in Bhopal to report on BMA's work while documenting the hideous legacy of the world's worst industrial disaster.
The Bhopal gas disaster has been dubbed the ''Hiroshima of the chemical industry''. It happened shortly after midnight on December 3, 1984, when a cloud of poisonous gas escaped from a Union Carbide pesticide plant. The release of 42 tonnes of methyl isocyanate (known as MIC) from the factory exposed more than 500,000 people to toxic gas. Up to 10,000 are thought to have died within the first 72 hours after the leak.
At least 25,000 people exposed to the gas have since died, and today in Bhopal tens of thousands more Indians suffer from a variety of debilitating gas-related illnesses such as respiratory and psychiatric problems, joint pains, menstrual irregularities, tuberculosis and cancers. Then there's the escalating number of birth defects, including cleft palates, webbed feet and hands, twisted limbs, brain damage and heart problems.
A number of media across the world published our reports including The Sydney Morning Herald -
MARY'S MEALS - www.marysmeals.org.uk
In 2007 I visited Haiti with photographer Angie Catlin for a project commissioned by a charity called Mary's Meals. We documented the horrendous living conditions people endure in a slum called Cite Soliel in the nation's capital city, Port Au Prince.
Our reports were published by Scotland On Sunday, New Statesman, The Catholic Herald, Sunday Herald and The Sunday Times.
You can read our report for The Sunday Times here -
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-feeding-of-the-slum-5000-26p0hn5ddc3