22 Oct 2009 | Uncategorized
Political cartooning in an inoffensive age: Should political cartoonists pull no punches, whatever offence they cause? Does crude, physical caricaturing come with the territory when you are a public figure? Or is it too easy to lampoon politicians rather than their politics? Do we want cartoonists who are prepared to take risks and push at the boundaries of taste in order to make clearer the world we live in? If we curtail political cartooning in any way, are we effectively censoring the press or simply ensuring good taste? Where should we draw the line with political cartoons and offence?
Join us for this lively and informative debate on Thursday 22 October, 7pm-9pm at the Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS), 33 Great Sutton Street, London, EC1V 0DX. £7.50 (£5 concessions) per person.
Chaired by Dr Shirley Dent of the Institute of Ideas. Part of the Battle of Ideas festival.
The Panel
Sarnath Banerjee – artist, film-maker; graphic novelist
Dave Brown – political cartoonist
John Kampfner – chief executive, Index on Censorship
Brendan O’Neill – editor, spiked; blogger, Guardian Comment is Free
Martin Rowson – political cartoonist; illustrator and writer
22 Oct 2009 | Uncategorized
Following the leadership coup at the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) its new rulers have been falling over itself to out-do North Korea’s media in their dumb loyalty to Tunisian leader Zine el Abidine Ben Ali in the days running up to presidential elections on Sunday. The new board vows to redouble their efforts to deliver “free information,” but “loyal and faithful to the homeland”. And they “express adherence to the Head of State’s vanguard choices and their support to his pertinent guidelines”. There’s more for those with strong stomachs here.
21 Oct 2009 | United Kingdom
Index on Censorship and English PEN today welcomed MPs’ robust response in this afternoon’s adjournment debate to law firm Carter-Ruck’s challenge to Parliamentary reporting, and called on them to strengthen the public’s right to information by banning the use of so-called “super injunctions” except in extreme circumstances.
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21 Oct 2009 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, News and features
Kian Tajbakhsh, an American-Iranian academic, was sentenced to at least 12 years in prison on 20 October for his alleged role in anti-government protests following President Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election. He was arrested on 9 July, and was the only US citizen detained in the government’s post-election crackdown. Despite appeals for his release, notably from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Tajbakhsh received the longest prison sentence yet handed down in the mass trial of more than 100 opposition individuals. Tajbakhsh’s lawyer plans to appeal the conviction. (Guardian, BBC)
