6 Apr 2018 | Awards, Fellowship 2018, News
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Mèdia.cat is a Catalan website devoted to highlighting media freedom violations and investigating under-reported or censored stories. Unique in Spain, it has been a particularly significant player in the last year when the heightened atmosphere in Catalonia over the disputed October independence referendum has brought issues of censorship and the impartiality of news, as well as the actions of public bodies like the police and government, under the spotlight.
Without the website, there would have been no online platform to catalogue systematically, publicly and in real time censorship perpetrated by the Spanish authorities against the local Catalan population. One of its most high-profile initiatives has been its Map on Censorship. This was set up two years ago in response to the Spanish government approving a so-called gag law, limiting the right to protest and effectively stopping people filming police officers. The Map on Censorship website was used particularly effectively during the 2017 crisis over the Catalan referendum campaign, giving the population in Catalonia live information about censorship, and other violations.
Between September and November 2017 as part its Map on Censorship initiative, journalists at Mèdia.cat documented and raised awareness about more than 125 possible restrictions on freedom of expression or information. All the incidents were related to the independence referendum in Catalonia of 1 October 2017, including both the lead up to the poll and its aftermath. The site deployed a team of 11 volunteer journalists to provide live updates on media freedom violations. The crisis in Catalonia in the last few months increased the reach and significance of the Map on Censorship with the map having 55,523 visits from 1 January to 12 November 2017.
Mèdia.cat describes itself as a critical media watchdog. It is run by a group of local Catalan journalists and publishes in Catalan about Catalonia. The financing for Mèdia.cat projects comes from a variety of sources including grants from the Catalan local government and the Barcelona City Council, crowdsourcing, foundations and donations. Mèdia.cat maintains its independence and is part of the Ramon Barnils group of journalists.
Mèdia.cat’s Hate Speech Media Watchdog ( https://www.media.cat/discursodimitjans/) also identified eight far-right media outlets in Spain which use fake news and other strategies to spread racism, xenophobia and islamophobia, among other forms of discrimination.
On their spot on the 2018 shortlist, Journalist at Mèdia.cat said “It is a great honor to be nominated to the Freedom of Expression awards. We were inspired by Index on Censorship’s work when we launched our Map on Censorship in 2015, which nowadays has become one of our most relevant projects. The nomination itself feels like an award for us. Especially in the current context, where freedom of expression is at stake in Catalonia and the Spanish state. Journalists have suffered physical aggressions, threats and other restrictions to their jobs, some artists have been censored and even retweeting a critical message can get you accused. We need to fight against this situation, unique in Western Europe, and this nomination is a great encouragement to do so.”
See the full shortlist for Index on Censorship’s Freedom of Expression Awards 2018 here.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content” equal_height=”yes” el_class=”text_white” css=”.vc_custom_1490258749071{background-color: #cb3000 !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_custom_heading text=”Support the Index Fellowship.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:28|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2Fsupport-the-freedom-of-expression-awards%2F|||”][vc_column_text]
By donating to the Freedom of Expression Awards you help us support
individuals and groups at the forefront of tackling censorship.
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5 Apr 2018 | Events
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CAMBRIDGE SERIES 4: DIGITAL FAKERY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
Saturday 26 May 2018, 1pm Venue: Good Energy Stage
Tickets: £7 from the Hay Festival
Drawing on her research about human rights reporting in the digital age, the Co-Director of the Centre of Governance and Human Rights at the University of Cambridge argues that digital fakery’s consequences for democracy arise not because we are duped, but because of what we do to not be duped. Chaired by Rachael Jolley, editor of Index on Censorship.
Ella McPherson, Rachael Jolley[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”90098″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”99366″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]
THE DEATH OF DAPHNE CARUANA GALIZIA AND THE TRUTH ABOUT MALTA
Monday 28 May 2018, 10am Venue: Starlight Stage
Tickets: £8 from the Hay Festival
The journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia investigated corruption in the Maltese government for decades in the face of intimidation, libel threats and persecution. She was assassinated in a car bomb attack on 16 October 2017. The editor of Index on Censorship is joined by Daphne’s son Paul and her fellow Maltese journalist Caroline Muscat of The Shift News. They talk to the BBC’s Europe Editor.
Rachael Jolley, Paul Caruana Galizia, Caroline Muscat with Katya Adler[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”90098″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”99367″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”99368″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”99369″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]
5 Apr 2018 | News, Volume 47.01 Spring 2018 Extras
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The spring 2018 issue The Abuse of History focuses on governments and powers alike manipulating history across the globe.
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In the spring 2018 issue of Index on Censorship magazine, we feature a special report on The Abuse of History, focusing on how governments and powers alike across the globe are manipulating history. See how brainy you are by taking our quiz, based on articles featured in the magazine.
[streamquiz id=”1″] Click on the square button.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row content_placement=”top”][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”The Abuse of History” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:24|text_align:left” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2F2017%2F12%2Fwhat-price-protest%2F|||”][vc_column_text]The spring 2018 issue of Index on Censorship magazine takes a special look at how governments and other powers across the globe are manipulating history for their own ends
With: Simon Callow, David Anderson, Omar Mohammed [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”99085″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2017/12/what-price-protest/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1481888488328{padding-bottom: 50px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”Subscribe” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:24|text_align:left” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2Fsubscribe%2F|||”][vc_column_text]In print, online. In your mailbox, on your iPad.
Subscription options from £18 or just £1.49 in the App Store for a digital issue.
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5 Apr 2018 | Index in the Press
Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja is an internationally-known Bahraini-Danish human rights defender who is the founder and former President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), established in 2002, and a Founding Director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), established in 2011. He was Middle East and North Africa Protection Coordinator for Front Line Defenders until February 2011, when he resigned during the popular movement in Bahrain. Read the full article.
