Artistic freedom under threat, says Southbank director

October 10th, 2012

An Index on Censorship conference has heard of the pressures on the arts in the UK today. Daisy Williams reports
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PAST EVENT: 19 July: What will Lord Justice Leveson conclude about the future of the British press?

July 18th, 2012

Date: Thursday 19 July
Time: 7-8.30pm
Venue: Frontline club, 13 Norfolk Place, London W2 1QJ
Tickets: Book here

It has been a year since the Prime Minister announced an inquiry examining the culture, practices and ethics of the media in light of the phone-hacking scandal. Since then we have heard from journalists, editors, proprietors, politicians and victims of phone-hacking. As hearings come to a close and Lord Justice Leveson begins to compile his report, join Frontline and Index on Censorship for a panel discussion, followed by Q&A on what the Inquiry has learned and what it should achieve.

Will new regulation damage the free press? How should public interest be defined? Can we ensure protection for sources and whistleblowers? How should relationships between journalists, proprietors, politicians and police be conducted in the future?

Panel includes:

David Aaronovitch, writer, broadcaster, commentator and regular columnist for The Times. He is author of Voodoo Histories: The role of Conspiracy Theory in Modern History and Paddling to Jerusalem: An Aquatic Tour of Our Small Country. Twitter: @DAaronovitch

Brian Cathcart, professor of journalism at Kingston University London and founder of the Hacked Off campaign. He served as specialist adviser to the commons media select committee in 2008-10. He was a journalist at Reuters, the Independent and the New Statesman, and has written books about the murders of Stephen Lawrence and Jill Dando, as well as on the history of nuclear science. Twitter: @BrianCathcart

Helen Lewis, deputy editor at the New Statesman. As well as commissioning and editing, she writes for the NS magazine and blogs for its website, with favoured topics including comedy, feminism, politics and computer games. She has also written forEdge magazine, the Stylist, Square Meal and the Guardian; she reviews the papers on Sky News and has appeared on the Today programme, Woman’s Hour and The Daily Politics. Twitter:@helenlewis

Angela Phillips, senior lecturer in journalism at Goldsmiths College, author of Good Writing for Journalists and co-author of Changing Journalism. She has been a journalist for over 30 years, starting in the alternative press of the 1970s and moving on to work for national newspapers, magazines, television and radio (the BBC and independents). She is also the chair of the Ethics Committee of the Coordinating Committee for Media Reform and gave evidence to the Leveson inquiry on Friday 13 July, 2012. Twitter: @AngelaELL

You can read our policy note on the key challenges for the Leveson Inquiry below:
Freedom of the Press, Governance and Press Standards: Key Challenges for the Leveson Inquiry

Standing in the queue

March 9th, 2012

To celebrate Index’s 40^th birthday, our publisher SAGE is opening the archive to the public for 40 days from 26 March. It’s a unique literary heritage, a roll-call of the greatest authors in the 20th century canon standing up for  free expression.

In 1994, South African writer, activist and Nobel Prize winner Nadine Gordimer witnessed the end of apartheid in South Africa when the black population voted for the first time.

Nadine Gordimer will be speaking at the Southbank Centre on 14 March in the first of a series of events celebrating Index’s anniversary. Get tickets here.

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Index announces shortlist for the Freedom of Expression Awards 2012

February 29th, 2012

Index on Censorship is proud to present the shortlist for the Freedom of Expression awards 2012. Check out the full list of nominees

PAST EVENT: Nadine Gordimer at the Southbank Centre

January 20th, 2012

Date: 14 March
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX
Tickets: £15, £12 – book here 

In the first of a series of events between Index on Censorship and the Southbank Centre,  South African novelist Nadine Gordimer will be speaking at the centre’s Literature and Spoken Word Festival on 14 March.

The 88-year-old writer, renowned for her activism, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991. She published her first novel in 1953, and has since gone on to publish short stories, plays and criticism in over 40 books, including The Conservationist, which won the Booker Prize in 1974. Gordimer’s latest novel, published to coincide with the event, is No Time Like the Present.

The festival will run from January to March. Tickets can be booked online here.

PAST EVENT: Book launch: Rebecca MacKinnon’s Consent of the Networked

January 16th, 2012

Date: 27 February 
Time: 6:30pm
Venue: Free Word Centre, London

Index on Censorship and the Institute for Human Rights and Business invite you to attend the launch of Rebecca MacKinnon’s new book, Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom.

Rebecca MacKinnonis the co-founder of Global Voices Online. In her new book she argues that a global struggle for control of the Internet is now underway. At stake are no less than civil liberties, privacy and even the character of democracy in the 21st century. Join us for a discussion with the author, along with writer and journalist Salil Tripathi.  Chaired by Jo Glanville, Editor of Index on Censorship, followed by a drinks reception.

Register to attend: neill.wilkins@ihrb.org

PAST EVENT: How free should free speech be? The Orwell Prize

March 11th, 2010

Sunday 21st March, 12pm, Christ Church Marquee, Oxford

George Orwell was a staunch proponent of freedom of all kinds, especially of speech and of the press. But  with criticisms of the media flourishing, preachers of hate making headlines, the anonymity of the internet, and journalists complaining about libel laws – how free is free speech, and what should the limits be?

Panelists include

• Catherine Bennett (The Observer, shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Journalism 2009)
• John Kampfner (Chief executive director of Index on Censorship, author of Freedom for Sale)
• Geoffrey Robertson QC (lawyer, broadcaster, author)

Chaired by Albert Scardino Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former Orwell Prize judge.

Book here