World Cup 2014: What’s the score on freedom of expression?
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This article was published on June 18, 2014 at indexoncensorship.org
Shubhranshu Choudhary: Using arts to help rural India speak out
Volunteers put on a puppet show to teach rural people about the CGNet Swara project (Image: Purushottam Thakur)
Three months after winning the Index Digital Activism Award for his work with CGNet Swara, Shubhranshu Choudhary spoke to Index about his most recent project, teaching rural villagers through performing arts how their mobile phones can be used to report incidents and issues that may otherwise be given the cold-shoulder by the authorities.
CGNet Swara (Voice of Chhattisgarh) is a mobile phone service that allows citizens to upload and listen to reports in their local language without the need for a smartphone or an internet connection.
The new experiment, as Choudhary referred to it, ran for a month, from 15 May to 15 June, and included volunteer artists performing in market places and villages in six of India’s 29 states. During this time the average number of daily reports jumped from 500 to 800, although, as Choudhary pointed out, it is too early tell if this was just an anomaly.
The team involved flipped their conventional method of teaching on its head. Previously, rural people were brought to the cities where they sat in classrooms and lectured about how to use the service. By physically going to the villagers instead, CGNet Swara has “reversed the order”, now teaching people in a way that makes them feel comfortable.
“We have made dance, we have written songs about our work, we have made a small drama, and there are characters that are puppets,” Choudhary told Index. “So in an entertaining way we try to tell them the problems with current mainstream media, which everyone should have equal access to, but unfortunately is owned and controlled by a small number of rich people.” This has resulted in a media full of information about the rich, according to Choudhary, with 80% of the population only receiving about 20% news coverage.
Between five and six million people speak Gondi in the six states CGNet Swara has visited, but they lack their own communication platform, with no radio station, newspaper or TV channel available in the Gondi language. CGNet Swara allows people to report incidents and get their voices heard when they might otherwise have been shunned.
Choudary was clear to point out that the people for whom this service is most vital are not uneducated, but rather a huge number of them live in rural areas and “feel more comfortable listening and speaking rather than reading and writing”. In a country where most Indians don’t have access to the internet but over 70% have access to a mobile phone, services like CGNet Swara play a pivotal part in giving the majority of the population a voice.
“By improving your communication platform, by improving the structure of communication within a community, by improving it from a top-down, one-way communication method to a bottom-up dialogue model of communication we are able to solve many smaller problems,” Choudhary told Index. “And maybe we will be contributing towards solving bigger problems as well.”
So how does CGNet Swara work? The programme allows people to phone in reports in their native language to the service, where they are then verified, translated and made available for playback online as well as over the phone. This is where urban activists come in to play. As Choudhary told Index, these are the people with the connections to the authorities, who speak the right language and can help getting these issues and problems solved. They complete the circle.
After the apparent success of last month’s trial period Choudhary is keen to continue with the project. “From what I gather from everyone, everyone’s pretty excited, but we will need some funding to continue it.” He told Index the project is not cheap to implement but “we are pretty convinced this is the way to reach these people.
“We feel convinced that this is the way to reach that last person of our community, because they are the ones who are left out. They are the ones whose voices are not coming out.”
Listen to the full interview with Shubhranshu Choudhary below.
This article was published on June 18, 2014 at indexoncensorship.org
Freedom of expression and access to information included as draft UN development goals
An international coalition of more than 200 organisations welcomes the inclusion of targets for capable institutions, media freedom, and access to information by the United Nations member states now participating in the post-2015 development agenda dialogue.
The inclusion of targets on freedom of expression and access to information will help build stronger media and civil society institutions to closely and independently monitor all post-2015 development commitments.
The Open Working Group proposed on June 2, 2014, that the Sustainable Development Goal No. 16 to “achieve peaceful and inclusive societies, rule of law, effective and capable institutions” include sub-goals to “improve public access to information and government data” and “promote freedom of media, association and speech.”
UNESCO and the Global Forum for Media Development convened representatives of this coalition to consider how to strengthen these welcome initiatives and submit for the consideration of member states proposed language and indicators for the text now being discussed by the Open Working Group.
Our proposal is consistent with the criteria that are guiding the efforts to reach consensus on the post-2015 global development agenda, including the Sustainable Development Goals. We urge the continued inclusion of sub-goals 16.14 and 16.17, and we propose below several specific, measurable indicators to achieve these objectives by 2030.
UN Precedents:
- Even before the signing of the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring freedom of expression “a fundamental human right…and the touchstone of all the freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated.”
- In 1976, after a sufficient number of nations had ratified these instruments and associated covenants, these global commitments took on the force of international law, as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Measured and Measurable:
- UNESCO has been formally vested with the mandate for monitoring international commitments in this field. Many countries have adopted the UNESCO Media Development Indicators as a tool for measuring progress towards effective media systems at the country level.
- ITU provides data on Internet use and access.
- IPU tracks legislative and constitutional guarantees of public access to public information.
- UNHCHR reports on violations of media freedom.
The assembled coalition proposes that UNESCO, as the UN agency mandated to promote free, independent, and pluralistic media, take the lead role in monitoring progress toward the achievement of these goals. The UNESCO Institute of Statistics should play an advisory role in the collection of relevant data. A UN process should help build national capacities to gather data and promote dialogue on freedom of expression and public access to information.
Europe after the Berlin Wall: Latest issue
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As Europe prepares for the anniversary of the wall’s demolition in November, Index on Censorship looks at how the continent has changed. Author Irena Maryniak explores the idea of a new divide that has formed further east. Polish journalist Konstanty Gebert looks at how Poland’s media came out from the underground and lost its voice.
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Award-winning German writer Regula Venske shows how Germany has tackled its identity issues through crime fiction; and Helen Womack reports from Moscow on the fears of a new Cold War. We also give voice to “Generation Wall” – the young people who have grown up in a free eastern Europe.
When the wall came down in 1989, there were discussions in the Index office about whether our battles were over. Sadly, we all know there was no universal end to censorship on that day. This issue also shares stories of the continuing fight for free expression worldwide, from a scheme to fund investigative journalism in Tanzania to an ambitious crowdsourcing project in Syria.
Also in this issue:
• Dame Janet Suzman looks at censorship of South African theatre on the 20th anniversary of South African democracy
• Jim Al-Khalili shares his thoughts on threats to science research and debate
• Ex BBC World Service boss Richard Sambrook goes head-to-head with Bruno Torturra, from Brazil’s Mídia Ninja, to debate the future of big media
Plus:
• Two new short stories – exclusive to Index – from Costa first novel winner Christie Watson and Turkish novelist Kaya Genç
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Freedom 25 years after the fall
Editorial: Europe’s past is being rewritten, says Rachael Jolley
Going overground: Konstanty Gebert on Poland’s underground media
Generation Wall: Under 25 year olds speak out on Europe now and then – Tymoteusz Chajdas, Milana Knezevic, Ivett Korosi and Victoria Pavlova
Enemies of the people: Matthias Biskupek on book censorship in East Germany
Judging Prague’s democratic difficulties: Jiri Pehe explores the quality of Czech democracy
Stripsearch cartoon: Martin Rowson conveys swapping communism for capitalism
The new divide: Thomas Rothschild believes the world didn’t get better after the fall
The other wall: Irena Maryniak on why Europe’s dividing line shifted
Mystery of regional identity: Regula Venske looks at how crime fiction shaped Germany
Empire line: Helen Womack on Russia’s retreating ideology
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”IN FOCUS” css=”.vc_custom_1481731813613{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 1px !important;padding-top: 15px !important;padding-bottom: 15px !important;border-bottom-color: #455560 !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}”][vc_column_text]
Bordering isolation: Kate Maltby explores attitudes to minorities in Turkey
Pakistan at a crossroads: Haroon Ullah looks the power of landlords and their influence on voting
Spying on the censors: Roger Highfield on how metadata could expose regimes
Going in deep: The risks facing Tanzania’s journalists, by Jess McCabe and Erick Kabendera
Open books: Susanne Metz on the vital role of libraries in exchanging ideas
Legal divisions: Dominique Mondoloni compares French and English libel laws
Cape crusader: Natasha Joseph interviews retiring South African politician Ben Turok
Syria’s inside track: Vicky Baker looks at crowdsourcing news in conflict
Mapped out: Guyana’s indigenous mapmakers, by Vicky Baker
When one door closes: Kaya Genç looks at whether Turkey should turns east or west
LA story: Ed Fuentes on lifting the graffiti ban in Los Angeles
Secrets and lives: Tarashea Nesbit tells the story of the wives at Los Alamos
Marching on: Nicole Mezzasalma looks at Brazil’s unprecedented protests
History revision: Saurav Datta on why India’s colonial laws haven’t changed
Brain unboxed: Rachael Jolley interviews scientist Jim Al-Khalili
Future imperfect: Jason Daponte explores online copying, control and protection
Degree of inequality: Jemimah Steinfeld reveals how China’s education system discriminates against women
Head to head: Richard Sambrook and Bruno Torturra debate whether big or small media have the control
On the ground in Argentina: Adrian Bono on the president’s love of one-way communication
On the ground in South Korea: Sybil Jones shares first-hand knowledge and looks at how news slips out
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”CULTURE” css=”.vc_custom_1481731777861{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 1px !important;padding-top: 15px !important;padding-bottom: 15px !important;border-bottom-color: #455560 !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}”][vc_column_text]
Stage directions in South Africa: Actor and director Janet Suzman on post-apartheid theatre
Big men, big decisions: Christie Watson’s new short story, based in Nigeria
“The exiled poet, free once more”: Robert Chandler translates Lev Ozerov’s poetry
Ghost of Turkey’s past: Kaya Genç’s exclusive short story on Turkish feminist Halide Edip Adivar
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”COLUMNS” css=”.vc_custom_1481732124093{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 1px !important;padding-top: 15px !important;padding-bottom: 15px !important;border-bottom-color: #455560 !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}”][vc_column_text]
Global view: Index’s new CEO Jodie Ginsberg on fighting censorship on and offline
Index around the world: Alice Kirkland’s update on news from Index’s global work
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”END NOTE” css=”.vc_custom_1481880278935{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 1px !important;padding-top: 15px !important;padding-bottom: 15px !important;border-bottom-color: #455560 !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}”][vc_column_text]
Campus clampdown: Taylor Walker looks at free speech zones at US universities
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”SUBSCRIBE” css=”.vc_custom_1481736449684{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 1px !important;padding-bottom: 15px !important;border-bottom-color: #455560 !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}”][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship magazine was started in 1972 and remains the only global magazine dedicated to free expression. Past contributors include Samuel Beckett, Gabriel García Marquéz, Nadine Gordimer, Arthur Miller, Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, and many more.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”76572″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]In print or online. Order a print edition here or take out a digital subscription via Exact Editions.
Copies are also available at the BFI, the Serpentine Gallery, MagCulture, (London), News from Nowhere (Liverpool), Home (Manchester), Calton Books (Glasgow) and on Amazon. Each magazine sale helps Index on Censorship continue its fight for free expression worldwide.
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