Former Star newsroom intern wins award for stories on human trafficking

Former Toronto Star newsroom intern Tamara Cherry has been recognized for her writing on human trafficking in Toronto.

Cherry, a 25-year-old reporter at the Toronto Sun, worked at the Star from May 2006 to September 2007. She joined the Star as a reporter in the Star's radio room.

She has been awarded the Glendene and Jesse Award in the media category for work on human trafficking. The award is handed out by Walk With Me, whose founder Timea Nagy arrived in Canada from Hungary in the late 1990s for what she thought would be a job as a domestic. Instead she was forced into a summer of sex slavery at GTA sex clubs before she was able to escape.

"I feel very humbled to be recognized among the other award winners, many of whom have dedicated their lives to combating this issue," said Cherry.

She first wrote about the subject in January 2008 after Toronto Police laid their first human trafficking charges.

Cherry believes her 16 months in the Star newsroom working the police beat helped her to become a better journalist.

"The work I did at the Star helped shape me into the reporter I am today. Through different stories I covered at the Star, I developed a compassion for victims, without which I don't think I could adequately report on human trafficking."

Photo of Tamara Cherry courtesy of the Toronto Sun

Comments

[FC]

A very difficult topic to cover. Kudos to Cherry.