On Assignment

As President Trump seeks greater influence over how elections are run, election officials across the country are bracing for disputes over voting, ballot counting and the certification of results. Reuters reporters Peter Eisler and Mike Spector join On Assignment to discuss the scenarios officials and legal experts fear could test the boundaries of federal authority before and after the 2026 midte...

Reporter Jeff Horwitz is having a surreal week. His investigation into Facebook has been turned into a major Hollywood film starring Jeremy Allen White. On this episode of On Assignment, the Pulitzer prize-winning journalist reflects on the Facebook Files investigation, his relationship with whistleblower Fances Haugen, and the impact the revelations had on the debate over social media's harms. He...

As the US and China race to dominate artificial intelligence, Reuters correspondents Eduardo Baptista and Laurie Chen say the two countries aren't even playing the same game. On this episode of On Assignment, they take us inside China's AI industry - from Beijing's push to weave AI into every corner of society, to the murky world of chip access, distillation and export controls. Hear what it takes...

As wars rage across the Middle East, another conflict is unfolding the occupied West Bank. On this episode of On Assignment, Reuters correspondent Pesha Magid travels to the Palestinian village of Qusra, which has become the focal point of a growing struggle over land, security, and political power.

This week On Assignment goes to eastern Congo to witness the unseen work of containing an Ebola outbreak. Reuters correspondent Clément Bonnerot follows a surveillance officer through Bunia as he searches for missed cases, investigates deaths and navigates the practical challenges of outbreak response. His reporting reveals how limited resources, public mistrust and misinformation can hinder effor...

Reuters investigative reporters Steve Secklow and Gavin Finch recently sat down with exiled Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran's last shah, for a rare and wide-ranging interview. Listen to that interview in this episode of On Assignment and go behind the scenes of how the story and the interview came about. Read their special report here: Regime change? Inside Reza Pahlavi's f...

Wildfires are blazing across the world. Veteran Reuters photojournalist Michael Blake shares his experience documenting wildfires over the last 40 years. Hear what it is like to travel into the flames when everyone is leaving and how covering the Palisades fires in his own community changed his perspective on capturing these natural disasters.

As AI transforms our lives, companies are racing to build data centers, the physical infrastructure needed to power such a technological revolution. On this week's episode of On Assignment, energy reporter Valerie Volcovici and video journalist Eric Cox travel to Middleton Township, Ohio. There, a new Meta data center and power station have sparked a debate about whether jobs and promises of inves...

As U.S. and Israeli strikes hit targets across Iran, some of the country's most treasured cultural sites found themselves in the blast zone. Reuters reporters gained rare access to historic palaces and the UNESCO-listed heart of Isfahan, documenting shattered windows, damaged mosaics and centuries-old architecture scarred by war. On this episode of On Assignment, Pulitzer-winning investigative jou...

What's it really like to cover the most powerful office in the world when the news never stops, the facts are constantly in dispute, and access can be cut off without warning? On this episode of On Assignment, Reuters White House correspondents Nandita Bose, Steve Holland, Trevor Hunnicutt, and Humeyra Pamuk pull back the curtain on life inside the press corps.  Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Thomso...

As a record-breaking heatwave scorches Europe, the scenes—children hosed down in London, shoppers scrambling for fans in Paris—offer a glimpse of a continent struggling to cope. On this episode of On Assignment, host Jonah Green speaks with data journalist Ben Welsh, who built Reuters’ new Climate Monitor to measure just how unusual this moment really is. By comparing today’s temperatures to histo...

Felix Light is the first Reuters journalist to travel to Turkmenistan in more than 10 years. The former Soviet state, bordered by Iran, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, has strong economic ties to China, but has isolated itself from Russian and western influences. Now Turkmenistan is starting to show signs of cautiously opening up. Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Thomson Reuters Privacy Stateme...

In this episode of On Assignment, set against the backdrop of Sudan’s civil war, Reuters journalists Nafisa Eltahir, Suzanne Vanhooymissen and Reade Levinson investigate what happened during the assault on al‑Fashir, a besieged city in Darfur. They reveal how they verified videos filmed by fighters and matched them with survivor testimony to reconstruct events in their documentary Death in Darfur:...

The red carpet. The stars. The parties. But behind the glamour and extravagance, it’s blood, sweat and tears. This week, Reuters showbiz reporter and Cannes veteran Rollo Ross takes us behind the scenes of the world’s most famous film festival. Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also vi...

Reuters journalists received  Pulitzer prizes for investigations into Meta and Trump's campaign of retribution, and were finalists for Illustrated Reporting and Breaking News Photography. We talk to the journalists and editors about the obstacles they overcame on their assignments in order to bring these stories to light.  Beat Reporting - Jeff Horwitz and Engen Tham of Reuters National Reporting...

Forty years after the world’s worst nuclear disaster, Chornobyl remains a place suspended in time — and newly exposed to danger. In this episode of On Assignment, Reuters correspondent Dan Peleschuk takes us inside the abandoned towns, sealed control rooms and vast confinement arc built to contain the radioactive remains of reactor four. Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement⁠⁠...

Joshua McElwee, who covers the Vatican for Reuters, has just returned from the pope's 10‑day journey across Africa. Joshua walks us through what it's like to cover America's first pope (Joshua is also a Chicago native) as he comes under increasing fire from the president. Plus, what it’s really like inside the Vatican and on the papal plane. Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Thomson Reuters Privacy Statemen...

In this episode, Reuters Beirut Bureau Chief Maya Gebeily helps make sense of a country in crisis. Lebanon has endured civil war, foreign occupation, economic collapse and political paralysis. Then came war with Israel. Hear how Maya and her team cover the complexities of this nation in conflict settings and daily life.   Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for in...

Space reporter Joey Roulette takes us inside his day job to give a unique viewpoint of the Artemis II launch. Watch Joey unpack what's at stake for the astronauts trying to get further from earth than anyone before them and the geopolitical rivalries at stake. And get a glimpse of his unusual office in the sky this week.   Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for inf...

The whole world can see the missiles flying over the Middle East. But what does life actually look like inside Iran right now? Reuters correspondent Ahmed Jadallah and his team became one of the first Reuters crews to report from Tehran in over a decade — navigating internet blackouts, restricted access, and nightly airstrikes to bring back something rare: the human story. In this episode of On As...

Follow two Reuters journalists Simon Gardner and Blake Morrison, on their international journey to unravel the true identity of Banksy, the enigmatic British street artist that's kept his identity just out of reach for decades. Hear how this mystery took them from a bombed-out Ukrainian village, through Bristol’s music scene, Manhattan’s high-rise art world and hundreds of documents to uncover a n...

This weekend France is holding the second round of municipal elections which are seen as a key test ahead of next year's presidential race. The elections provide a glimpse into the rise of the far right as many contemplate an era beyond Macron. Our reporters fan out across France from Paris to Marseilles to cover the country’s “chaotic” political scene. Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Thomson Reuters Privacy...

It’s the glitziest night of the year but behind the sparkle and the acceptance speeches lie big money and PR maneuvers. Entertainment reporters Dawn Chmielewski and Lisa Richwine pull back the curtain on the political-style machinery of awards season. And as Hollywood grapples with AI threats, studio mergers, and declining viewership, this year's Oscars remain refreshingly unpredictable. Visit the...

John Davison and Edmund Blair have covered the Middle East for decades, reporting from Iran, Iraq and across the region. Hear them discuss how the U.S. and Israel’s most ambitious operation yet against their arch-enemy compares to previous invasions, and what that means for global stability in the short and long term. Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for information on o...

A pre‑dawn raid that killed cartel leader El Mencho triggered nationwide chaos, but our reporters say daily life in Mexico often looks very different from what goes viral online. Reuters correspondents Laura Gottesdiener and Emily Green join On Assignment to describe what it’s like to cover these criminal organizations. They also break down the cartel’s deep social and economic reach, and what El...