Mei-Ling McNamara

About

Conserving Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest, Al Jazeera English, Earthrise, 2012

Investigative Journalist
DOC Filmmaker
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR 
+ MEDIA Consultant 

The Guardian held its annual documentary showcase at Bertha DocHouse at the Curzon Theatre in Bloomsbury in February. Our documentary “Give Me Shelter” was featured alongside a slate of excellent films. Click here to watch our panel discussion.

Our investigation “How Facebook and Instagram Became Marketplaces for Child Sex Trafficking” (Guardian, 2023) has been cited as one of the critical evidential news sources from the New Mexico Attorney General into the landmark trial verdict in March of the State of New Mexico vs. Meta Platforms Inc.

News

Our Guardian documentary, “Give Me Shelter” (Tom Silverstone (Dir), Laurence Topham (Ed/EP) and Mei-Ling McNamara (Journalist/Producer) has been nominated for an Emmy award! The Documentary awards will take place at the Jazz in Lincoln Center on 28 May, 2026. Viewers can watch it streamed live on TheEmmys.TV and The Emmys apps.


Dr. Mei-Ling McNamara is an investigative reporter, editor, producer and director who has worked with international media outlets including the Guardian Documentaries, Al Jazeera English (People & Power, Earthrise), CNN International, Channel 4, PBS and the BBC. Her print and multimedia pieces have featured in The New York Times, the Guardian (Guardian News, Guardian Long Read and Guardian Magazine), The Irish Times and The Observer Magazine, among others.

For nearly two decades, her journalism focuses on interrogating systems of power, including modern-day slavery and human trafficking, labor exploitation, technological inequality, environmental crimes and wrongful incarceration. Her reporting has included long-form narrative journalism, print and radio features, live news production, current affairs productions, multimedia investigative projects and long-form documentaries. As well as working as a journalist and filmmaker, she is the editorial director of Investigate Europe, an award-winning consortium of investigative reporters publishing cross-border investigations in Europe and beyond. She holds a doctorate in Transdisciplinary Documentary Film from The University of Edinburgh, an MA in Journalism from Goldsmiths, University of London, an MA in American Poetry in Prose from the University of Essex, and a BA in English from the University of California, Davis.