09 Jan 18 | Events
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”97306″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Join Index on Censorship in an underground nuclear bunker for an exploration of propaganda past and present, as part of Essex Book Festival’s “The Nuclear Option”, a mini-festival taking place after-hours in the Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker, a labyrinthine evening of talks, workshops, performances and screenings.
Built in the 1950s, the bunker would have been home to government and military leaders, including possibly even the prime minister, in the event of a cold war nuclear attack. The perfect setting for this panel discussion by Index on Censorship bringing together leading voices looking at the different stories from history, technology and media about how and why propaganda is used to persuade the public.
Speakers include author Jamie Bartlett (Radicals, The Dark Net, Orwell vs the Terrorists) detecting new cunning methods of misleading, journalist David Aaronovitch, who knows first hand about how party propaganda works, growing up in a British Communist family (Party Animals: My Family and Other Communists) and journalist and writer Xinran (The Good Women of China) who challenged Chinese Communist Party propaganda and taboos as the presenter of the first late night talk show aimed at women in China. The session will be chaired by Rachael Jolley, editor of Index on Censorship magazine, which published a special edition looking at propaganda techniques through the ages and how they have affected public understanding.
To complement the panel discussion, Index have partnered with Essex University drama department and the Lakeside Theatre to create an immersive performance, ‘Propaganda: Hits from History’ tracing the political rhetoric that makes up propaganda, with some surprisingly persuasive speeches.
Your £10 ticket entitles you to access the evening panels and discussions from 5:30-9pm, more details here. A separate entrance fee of £7.50 payable in cash is required for entrance to the venue and includes a tour of the bunker.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][staff name=”David Aaronovitch” profile_image=”95061″]Chair of the Index on Censorship board of trustees, Times columnist David Aaronovitch is a British journalist, broadcaster, and author.[/staff][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][staff name=”Jamie Bartlett” profile_image=”97290″]Jamie Bartlett is a journalist and tech blogger for The Telegraph and director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media for Demos.[/staff][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][staff name=”Xinran” profile_image=”95586″]Xinran is a popular radio personality in China, who had a call-in programme named Words on the Night Breeze from 1989 to 1997. She is also the author of several bestselling books, including The Good Women of China, China Witness and Buy Me the Sky.[/staff][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][staff name=”Rachael Jolley” profile_image=”90098″]Rachael Jolley is the editor of Index on Censorship magazine.[/staff][/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][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
When: Sunday 25 March 2018, 5:30-9pm
Tickets: £10 for access to all events in the Nuclear Option. Separate entrance fee of £7.50 payable in cash at the door is required to access the venue. Includes tour of the bunker.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
09 Jan 18 | Events
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”97488″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Truth to Power Café begins an exploration into the power of free speech and political activism as participants have five minutes to speak truth to power before a live audience by responding to the question: ‘Who has power over you and what do you want to say to them?’
Speaking ‘truth to power’ has its origins in anti-war pacifism, but in this era of post-truth and fake-news is widely accepted to mean saying something to those in authority or position of trust who don’t want to hear it.
We’re inviting people of all ages, beliefs, and backgrounds to take part and share your truth to power. It can be directed at your parents, a sibling, a politician, lover, landlord, neighbour, religious leader, boss, banker… quite simply, anything or anyone that holds power over you. It’s time to tell them the truth before it’s too late.
‘Truth to Power Café’ tells it like it is. Take part, I did. Or just turn up for inspiration and empowerment’. Peter Tatchell, International Human Rights Activist
‘Being part of the Café was a truly empowering experience’. Phoebe Thomas Weekes, student and participant
’Truth to Power Cafe’ is a new theatre work forming part of an international art project inspired by the political and philosophical beliefs of Harold Pinter and his Hackney Gang. For more information visit London Artists Projects.
Devised and hosted by Jeremy Goldstein
Verse by Henry Woolf
Director Jen Heyes
Photography Sarah Hickson
Banner design by Ed Hall
Music by David Bowie recorded by Sven Ratzke[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
When: Friday 9 February 2018, 7:30pm
Where: Theatre in the Mill, Off Shearbridge Road, Bradford, BD7 1DP (Post code for Sat Navs: BD7 1NX)
Tickets: £10 Full/£6 Concessions/£4 Discounted via University of Bradford
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
09 Jan 18 | Events
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”82972″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Truth to Power Café begins an exploration into the power of free speech and political activism as participants have five minutes to speak truth to power before a live audience by responding to the question: ‘Who has power over you and what do you want to say to them?’
Speaking ‘truth to power’ has its origins in anti-war pacifism, but in this era of post-truth and fake-news is widely accepted to mean saying something to those in authority or position of trust who don’t want to hear it.
We’re inviting people of all ages, beliefs, and backgrounds to take part and share your truth to power. It can be directed at your parents, a sibling, a politician, lover, landlord, neighbour, religious leader, boss, banker… quite simply, anything or anyone that holds power over you. It’s time to tell them the truth before it’s too late.
‘Truth to Power Café’ tells it like it is. Take part, I did. Or just turn up for inspiration and empowerment’. Peter Tatchell, International Human Rights Activist
‘Being part of the Café was a truly empowering experience’. Phoebe Thomas Weekes, student and participant
’Truth to Power Cafe’ is a new theatre work forming part of an international art project inspired by the political and philosophical beliefs of Harold Pinter and his Hackney Gang. For more information visit London Artists Projects.
Devised and hosted by Jeremy Goldstein
Verse by Henry Woolf
Director Jen Heyes
Photography Sarah Hickson
Banner design by Ed Hall
Music by David Bowie recorded by Sven Ratzke[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
When: Thursday 8 February 2018, 7:45pm
Where: Cast, Waterdale, Doncaster DN1 3BU
Tickets: £10.50 (£9 under 26) via Cast
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
08 Jan 18 | Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, News and features, Venezuela
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Latin America is home to a growing number of independent publications, like Venezuela’s Efecto Cocuyo, that do not depend on government advertising
With general elections scheduled in six Latin American countries this year, and another six to follow in 2019, the relationship between the media and democracy could have a major impact on the future of the region. However, mounting financial pressures are robbing many media outlets of their objectivity and forcing them to toe pro-government lines.
With traditional advertising revenue in decline, Latin American governments are using vast publicity budgets to keep cash-strapped publications afloat. In return, the media are expected to portray their benefactors in a favourable light.
According to the NGO Freedom House, much of the media in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras and Mexico is heavily dependent on government advertising, resulting in widespread self-censorship and collusion between public officials, media owners and journalists.
“The history of journalism in Latin America is a history of collusion between the press and powerful people,” said Rosental Alves, a Brazilian journalist and founder of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, in an interview with Index. Sections of the media have become subservient, he explained, as any critical coverage could be punished with audits or a loss of advertising revenue.
Financial pressures on the media are particularly pronounced in Venezuela. Alves observed that the Nicolás Maduro regime has applied “waves of censorship” to the media by first decrying it as “the enemy of the people” and then buying up media companies to “make them friendly.”
Freedom House notes that “although privately owned newspapers and broadcasters operate alongside state outlets, the overall balance has shifted considerably toward government-aligned voices in recent years. The government officially controls 13 television networks, dozens of radio outlets, a news agency, eight newspapers, and a magazine.”
This is compounded by Venezuela’s severe economic problems and the virtual government monopoly on newsprint supplies that have led to newspaper closures, staff cutbacks and reduced circulation of critical media.
Mexico’s government has taken the more subtle approach of co-opting swathes of the media through unprecedented expenditure on advertising. According to the transparency group Fundar, President Enrique Peña Nieto has spent almost £1.5 billion on advertising in the past five years, more than any president in Mexican history. On top of that, state and municipal administrations have also spent millions on publicity in local media.
Darwin Franco, a freelance journalist in Guadalajara, told Index that government spending has led to some publications telling reporters “who they can and cannot criticise in their work.”
Then there is the infamous chayote, a local term for bribes paid to journalists in return for favourable coverage. Franco said Mexican reporters are particularly vulnerable to economic pressures or under-the-table incentives because it’s so hard for them to make a living.
“Freelance journalists in Mexico don’t receive the benefits that employees are legally entitled to,” he said. “National media outlets — and even some international ones — pay us minimal fees for stories, which in some cases don’t even cover the costs of reporting.”
Franco, who also teaches journalism at a local university, added that many reporters take on second jobs to supplement their income. With Mexican journalists making less than £450 per month on average, he acknowledged that “there may be people who are tempted” to take money from the government.
Despite these financial pressures, Alves is encouraged by the technology-driven democratisation of the media across Latin America, with increased internet penetration and the affordability of smartphones allowing people who could not afford computers to access nontraditional media for the first time.
These include rudimentary blogs, social media accounts and more sophisticated media startups, Alves said, with countries like Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and even Venezuela home to a growing number of independent publications that do not depend on government advertising.
“We are living a time of the decline of advertisements as the main source of revenue for news organisations. On the one hand you have this huge decline in traditional advertising because of Google and Facebook getting all this money, and on the other hand you see the virtual disappearance of the entry barriers for becoming a media outlet,” Alves noted.
“We’re moving from the mass media to a mass of media because there’s this proliferation of media outlets that don’t depend on a lot of money,” he added. “If you can gather some philanthropic support or membership, or you’re just doing it by yourself, like many courageous bloggers are doing in many parts of the region, you don’t make any money but you don’t spend any money either.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Survey: How free is our press?” use_theme_fonts=”yes” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2Fnewsite02may%2F2017%2F12%2Fsurvey-free-press%2F|title:Take%20our%20survey||”][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_icon icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-pencil-square-o” color=”black” background_style=”rounded” size=”xl” align=”right”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
This survey aims to take a snapshot of how financial pressures are affecting news reporting. The openMedia project will use this information to analyse how money shapes what gets reported – and what doesn’t – and to advocate for better protections and freedoms for journalists who have important stories to tell.
More information[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”97191″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/newsite02may/2018/01/tracey-bagshaw-compromise-compromising-news/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
Commercial interference pressures on the UK’s regional papers are growing. Some worry that jeopardises their independence.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”81193″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/newsite02may/2017/12/jean-paul-marthoz-commercial-interference-european-media/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
Commercial pressures on the media? Anti-establishment critics have a ready-made answer: of course, journalists are hostage to the whims of corporate owners, advertisers and sponsors. Of course, they cannot independently cover issues which these powers consider “inconvenient”.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”96949″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.opendemocracy.net/openmedia/mary-fitzgerald/welcome-to-openmedia”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
Forget fake news. Money can distort media far more disturbingly – through advertorials, and through buying silence. Here’s what we’re going to do about it.
This article is also available in Dutch | French | German | Hungarian | Italian |
Serbian | Spanish| Russian[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Don’t lose your voice. Stay informed.” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship is a nonprofit that campaigns for and defends free expression worldwide. We publish work by censored writers and artists, promote debate, and monitor threats to free speech. We believe that everyone should be free to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution – no matter what their views.
Join our mailing list (or follow us on Twitter or Facebook) and we’ll send you our weekly newsletter about our activities defending free speech. We won’t share your personal information with anyone outside Index.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][gravityform id=”20″ title=”false” description=”false” ajax=”false”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”12″ style=”load-more” items_per_page=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1515148254502-253f3767-99a5-8″ taxonomies=”8996″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
08 Jan 18 | Awards, News and features, Press Releases
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards Fellowship 2018
Index on Censorship is proud to announce that long-time BBC reporter Razia Iqbal and CEO of the world famous Serpentine Galleries Yana Peel will join a panel of judges to decide the 2018 Freedom of Expression Awards Fellowship winners.
The Freedom of Expression Awards, now in their 18th year, honour champions of free expression and those battling censorship around the world in the field of arts, campaigning, digital activism and journalism. Many have faced prosecution and punishment for their work.
Peel sits on advisory boards for the Tate, the British Fashion Council and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and is a young global leader of the World Economic Forum. Currently CEO of the Serpentine Galleries, she previously ran Intelligence Squared Group, a leading forum for live debate, and was a regular contributor to the Davos annual meeting and the DLD, particularly on topics at the intersection of technology and visual art.
Iqbal has been an arts correspondent for the BBC for over a decade and is one of the main presenters of Newshour, the flagship news and current affairs programme on BBC World Service radio, and regularly presents The World Tonight on BBC Radio 4.
Iqbal says “In my lifetime, there has never been a more critical time to fight for freedom of expression. Whether it is in countries where people are imprisoned or worse, killed, for saying things the state or others, don’t want to hear, it continues to be fought for and demanded. It is a privilege to be associated with the Index on Censorship judging panel.”
The judging panel will also include Raspberry Pi Ltd CEO Eben Upton, founder of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a UK-based charity that advances computer science education in schools, who was recently elected to the fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2017; and Tim Moloney QC, deputy head of Doughty Street Chambers and Band 1 of Crime Silks, classed as leading silk in the current Legal 500.
Announcing the judging panel, Index on Censorship chief executive Jodie Ginsberg said:“Freedom of expression is a right that our award winners and nominees work tirelessly to defend. The awards draw attention to the repression that they face every day and give us a chance to celebrate and support these inspiring journalists, activists, and artists.
“We’re excited to announce this year’s remarkable panel of judges, who are leaders and experts in their fields. The Freedom of Expression Awards Fellowship recognise global free speech heroes and provide assistance so that their important work can continue.”
Previous winners of the Freedom of Expression Awards include Nobel Peace Prize winner Pakistani education campaigner Malala Yousafzai, Chinese political cartoonist Rebel Pepper and Yemeni street artist Murad Subay. Hundreds of public nominations are made for the awards each year. Many of those nominated are regularly targeted by authorities or by criminal and extremist groups for their work. Some face regular death threats, others criminal prosecution.
Previous judges include digital campaigner and entrepreneur Martha Lane Fox, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, Harry Potter actor Noma Dumezweni, novelist Elif Shafak, award-winning journalist and former editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker Tina Brown and human rights lawyer and shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer.
The Freedom of Expression Awards Fellowship ceremony 2018 will be held on April 19 in London.
For Index on Censorship
Sean Gallagher, [email protected]
About the Freedom of Expression Awards Fellowship
Winners of the 2018 Freedom of Expression Awards Fellowship receive 12 months of capacity building, coaching and strategic support. Through the fellowships, Index seeks to maximise the impact and sustainability of voices at the forefront of pushing back censorship worldwide. More information
About Index on Censorship
Index on Censorship is a London-based non-profit organisation that publishes work by censored writers and artists and campaigns against censorship worldwide. Since its founding in 1972, Index on Censorship has published some of the greatest names in literature in its award-winning quarterly magazine, including Samuel Beckett, Nadine Gordimer, Mario Vargas Llosa, Arthur Miller and Kurt Vonnegut. It also has published some of the world’s best campaigning writers from Vaclav Havel to Elif Shafak.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][staff name=”Razia Iqbal, Journalist” profile_image=”97201″]Razia Iqbal is a presenter for BBC News: she is one of the main presenters of Newshour, the flagship news and current affairs programme on BBC World Service radio. She also regularly presents The World Tonight on BBC Radio 4, a British weekday current affairs radio programme broadcast. Iqbal has hosted HARDtalk Extra, a BBC television and radio programme that conducts in depth one-on-one interviews with significant artists such as Pakistani pop star Haroon and prolific American writer, Joyce Carol Oates. She was the BBC’s arts correspondent for a decade, and has worked as a political reporter and a foreign correspondent in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Iqbal has also made several successful documentaries through the BBC and presented on a variety of programmes. She was born in Kampala, Uganda and came to London as a child. Iqbal graduated with a BA in American Studies from the University of East Anglia and was nominated in 2013 for the “Services to Media” award at the British Muslims Awards. [/staff][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][staff name=”Tim Moloney QC, Barrister” profile_image=”97202″]Tim Moloney QC is the deputy head of Doughty Street Chambers. His practice encompasses crime, extradition, international criminal law, international death penalty litigation, public law and media law. Moloney consistently acts in high profile litigation across the spectrum of his practice. He also advises high profile organisations on their exposure to involvement with acts of terrorism and is regularly involved in training of lawyers overseas in the law and practice relating to terrorism and the death penalty. He also regularly advises media organisations on issues they face relating to terrorism and disclosure. Following the completion of his Ph.D, Moloney was a lecturer in law before being called to the Bar in 1993. He became a QC in 2010. He continues to write and lecture extensively. He is the author of the sexual offences, terrorism and appeals sections of the leading reference work, Blackstone’s Criminal Practice, and is the author of the sentencing chapters in Rook and Ward on Sexual Offences. Moloney is also a member of the panel of experts for Halsbury’s Laws.[/staff][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][staff name=”Yana Peel, Chief Executive” profile_image=”97203″]Yana Peel is CEO of the Serpentine Galleries, London, one of the most recognised organisations in the global contemporary art, design and architecture worlds. Prior to this she ran Intelligence Squared Group, the leading forum for live debate. Having co-founded Outset Contemporary Art Fund in 2003 as a hub for creative funding solutions for cultural projects, Peel maintains advisory positions across the arts that include: Tate, British Fashion Council, V-A-C Foundation Moscow, Lincoln Center and Asia Art Archive. At ParaSite Art Space and Intelligence Squared, she serves as board co-chair. Peel is a young global leader of the World Economic Forum and a regular contributor to the Davos annual meeting and DLD, particularly on topics at the intersection of technology and visual art. Her two children provide inspiration for her best-selling book series, Art for Baby, which benefits the National Society for the Protection against Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). Peel was born in St Petersburg, Russia, attended McGill University, completed her post-graduate studies in Economics at LSE, and started her career at Goldman Sachs.[/staff][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][staff name=”Eben Upton CBE, Chief Executive” profile_image=”97204″]Eben Upton CBE is a founder of the Raspberry Pi Foundation and serves as the CEO of Raspberry Pi Ltd, its commercial and engineering subsidiary. He is the co-author, with Gareth Halfacree of the Raspberry Pi User Guide, and with Jeff Duntemann and others of Learning Computer Architecture with Raspberry Pi. He was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2017. In an earlier life, he founded two successful mobile games and middleware companies, Ideaworks 3d and Podfun, held the post of director of studies for Computer Science at St John’s College, Cambridge, and wrote the Oxford Rhyming Dictionary with his father, Professor Clive Upton. He holds a BA in Physics and Engineering, a PhD in Computer Science, and an MBA, from the University of Cambridge.[/staff][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content” equal_height=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1515150485442{background-color: #cb3000 !important;}” el_class=”text_white”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_custom_heading text=”Support the Index Fellowship” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2Fnewsite02may%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.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1515150288338{background-image: url(https://www.indexoncensorship.org/newsite02may/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/2017-awards-fellows-1460×490-2.jpg?id=89631) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Don’t lose your voice. Stay informed.” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship is a nonprofit that campaigns for and defends free expression worldwide. We publish work by censored writers and artists, promote debate, and monitor threats to free speech. We believe that everyone should be free to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution – no matter what their views.
Join our mailing list (or follow us on Twitter or Facebook) and we’ll send you our weekly newsletter about our activities defending free speech. We won’t share your personal information with anyone outside Index.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][gravityform id=”20″ title=”false” description=”false” ajax=”false”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]
05 Jan 18 | Index in the Press
Free speech groups have praised Little, Brown’s decision to release Michael Wolff’s tell-all book on Donald Trump’s presidency despite the UK’s strict libel laws and legal threats from the president. Read the full article
05 Jan 18 | Index in the Press
Free speech groups have praised Little, Brown’s decision to release Michael Wolff’s tell-all book on Donald Trump’s presidency despite the UK’s strict libel laws and legal threats from the president. Read the full article
04 Jan 18 | Media Freedom, media freedom featured, News and features, United Kingdom
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”97191″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]“News is something which somebody wants suppressed: all the rest is advertising.”
Variations on this quote, originally attributed to William Randolph Hearst, have echoed around newsrooms for decades, with advertising and editorial kept separate. Nowadays, though, the line is becoming more blurred for the UK’s regional media.
And it is driving journalists away from the jobs they love. One former local paper editor told Index she bowed out after commercial influence became the last straw.
“The last 10 years have seen increasing pressure from commercial departments to not use, or minimise, any story which has the potential to upset an advertiser – or even a potential advertiser,” she said. “While working as an editor I was told, in no uncertain terms, we were not to run a court story involving an advertiser breaching health and safety legislation. And that is just one example.
“My instincts were to fight every inch of the way, but the reality was that the dice were loaded in favour of those bringing in revenue, the ad team, not those irritating journalists who believed in printing news, whatever it was and whoever it involved.”
An increasing number of media CEOs have commercial roots rather than editorial backgrounds, with publishers sometimes accused of arguing that commercial needs can override journalistic integrity because advertisers pay the wages.
Print circulation is falling – as is advertising revenue. Enders Analysis predicts that by 2019, the UK newspaper industry’s revenue will be nearly £1bn a year less than in 2011, and eMarketer’s latest UK media ad-spending forecast predicted newspapers would see their income fall by 9% in 2017.
Regional papers have a smaller pool of advertisers to draw on than their national competitors, so commercial directors are keen to court businesses in the hope they may become advertisers, or to keep their budgets on par with previous years.
Reporters complain that they spend too much time rehashing press releases with little news value, and sub-editors regularly come across “stories” on commercial events with instructions not to edit them. Often, a paid-for supplement will follow, linked to an agreement for editorial coverage.
Ian Murray, executive director of the Society of Editors, says this closer relationship is important but needs to be handled with care.
“Editors left their ivory towers a few years ago now, and any editor or news editor who doesn’t understand that the continued existence of their publication is tied to its commercial success won’t last long in the job,” he said. “But whereas it is acceptable for an editor to agree to, say, a new section on a topic that will attract or support advertising, it remains their role if not their duty to ensure commercial interests do not affect genuine news reporting.”
This is a tightrope Nigel Pickover has negotiated in his four decades in the regional press. The former editor of the Ipswich Star and the Eastern Daily Press believes editorial staff need a sixth sense regarding potentially undue influence.
“If there is a newsroom campaign or a royal wedding supplement, it’s entirely appropriate to link with colleagues to see if there are commercial opportunities. Producing newspapers and websites is an expensive business,” he said.
“The biggest danger to me – in a time of tight resources and open pages – is clever PR firms delivering well-written copy, pictures and even video into the editorial system. Again, these stories must pass muster and not be used as space fillers if they are just free puffs.”
Many PR companies, aware of the muddying of the waters, see benefits for all parties.
Maw Communications has clients including GoCompare, DPD and Virgin Money. Founder Gordon Maw says it is now common to have editorial coverage, traditional adverts, sponsorship, online links and inclusion in more general features in one managed campaign rather than dealing with separate departments.
“As amazing as your story or ad is, there’s a massive chance people will miss it. But with this sharing of media, everything can be done as mini campaigns – it can go everywhere,” he said. “It’s still about the story and the message but it works in different ways.”
But while some newsdesks are instructed to blur the boundaries, Iliffe’s new Bishop’s Stortford Independent sets firm limits. News editor Sinead Corr’s brief is to provide genuine local news which inspires confidence in both readers and advertisers.
“We are trying to be independent, and you can’t be that if you are in someone’s pocket,” she said. “Our ad reps sell on the quality of our editorial content. There are no mates’ rates, no puff promises.”
She says advertisers believe too much cross-contamination can damage their brands. “People aren’t falling for it… It’s the whole ethos of trust. Adverts are placed in a context where they have credibility by association.”
But what happens if advertisers do try to call the shots? They may demand inclusion in a story or threaten to withdraw advertising if an adverse story is printed.
This is where editors have to be strong, fighting their corner if needs be and employing that “sixth sense”, says Pickover.
It is this approach which will, ultimately, benefit both commercial and editorial sides, adds Murray.
“In my experience, and through anecdotal evidence from today’s editors, they remain committed to standing up for editorial independence and integrity. Management also, I believe, understand that a publication’s integrity with both readers and then advertisers will not survive the loss of real editorial standards.”
This is good news, but it still rings hollow in the ears of journalists such as the former weekly editor, who spoke to Index, who believes the daily struggle is still real – especially for smaller publications.
“I am sure there are papers out there which take no prisoners and run stories unfettered by the chains of the ad team – and I salute them. But equally, there are also plenty of stifled editorial teams being bent by the commercial will of the ad teams – be it not running a story altogether, or over-writing some PR puff to a page lead to please an advertiser.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Survey: How free is our press?” use_theme_fonts=”yes” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2Fnewsite02may%2F2017%2F12%2Fsurvey-free-press%2F|title:Take%20our%20survey||”][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_icon icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-pencil-square-o” color=”black” background_style=”rounded” size=”xl” align=”right”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
This survey aims to take a snapshot of how financial pressures are affecting news reporting. The openMedia project will use this information to analyse how money shapes what gets reported – and what doesn’t – and to advocate for better protections and freedoms for journalists who have important stories to tell.
More information[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”81193″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/newsite02may/2017/12/jean-paul-marthoz-commercial-interference-european-media/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
Commercial pressures on the media? Anti-establishment critics have a ready-made answer: of course, journalists are hostage to the whims of corporate owners, advertisers and sponsors. Of course, they cannot independently cover issues which these powers consider “inconvenient”.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”96949″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.opendemocracy.net/openmedia/mary-fitzgerald/welcome-to-openmedia”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
Forget fake news. Money can distort media far more disturbingly – through advertorials, and through buying silence. Here’s what we’re going to do about it.
This article is also available in Dutch | French | German | Hungarian | Italian |
Serbian | Spanish| Russian[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Don’t lose your voice. Stay informed.” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship is a nonprofit that campaigns for and defends free expression worldwide. We publish work by censored writers and artists, promote debate, and monitor threats to free speech. We believe that everyone should be free to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution – no matter what their views.
Join our mailing list (or follow us on Twitter or Facebook) and we’ll send you our weekly newsletter about our activities defending free speech. We won’t share your personal information with anyone outside Index.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][gravityform id=”20″ title=”false” description=”false” ajax=”false”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”12″ style=”load-more” items_per_page=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1515055423699-6d3c86d3-086a-2″ taxonomies=”8996″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
02 Jan 18 | Journalism Toolbox Spanish
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Puede que en Estados Unidos estén aún acostumbrándose a sus «fake news», pero los bielorrusos llevan años lidiando con la táctica de las noticias fabricadas, relata Andrei Aliaksandrau.”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]
Las fuerzas especiales rodean a manifestantes en Minsk (Bielorrusia) tras las elecciones fraudulentas de 2010, Isabel Sommerfeld/Flickr
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
En Bielorrusia, inventar noticias no es una novedad. Una historia que consistía en imágenes espantosas de manifestantes armados con cócteles molotov y otros objetos recorrió en abril los canales de televisión y periódicos del estado. Los manifestantes, afirmaban los reporteros, pertenecían a la Legión Blanca, cuyos miembros presuntamente buscaban encender en Minsk una revuelta similar a la de las protestas del Euromaidán, que se extendieron por toda Ucrania en 2013 y 2014 y contribuyeron a la crisis de Crimea.
Curiosamente, los productores y reporteros de estos vídeos y artículos eran anónimos. No había ni títulos ni firmas, ni tampoco pruebas de que la Legión Blanca, que existió en su día, hubiera llevado a cabo operación alguna en los últimos años. También es curioso que ni la policía ni las fuerzas de seguridad quisieran responder a las preguntas de periodistas y ciudadanos sobre el caso.
Resulta que la historia era una invención con envoltorio de noticia, un fragmento retorcido de la realidad, emitido para sembrar el miedo y el pánico en la sociedad. El mensaje era: No salgáis a las calles a protestar. Quienes lo hacen socavan la paz y la estabilidad.
Se trata de una táctica habitual que lleva años dándose en Bielorrusia, donde las noticias reales se reprimen y proliferan las falsas. Es una estrategia de uso muy extendido en este momento, siendo 2017 testigo de las protestas más intensas que ha visto el país en años, y a las que el gobierno ha respondido con brutalidad.
Bastante próspera bajo el régimen soviético, Bielorrusia sufrió un declive financiero tras la caída de la URSS. En medio del desconcierto económico y político, Alexander Lukashenko llegó al poder. El presidente sigue aferrado a él 23 años después, debido en gran medida a un estricto control de los medios de comunicación. Los ataques a la prensa, a blogueros, a escritores y a periodistas independientes se perpetúan al mismo tiempo que continúan las actividades de la extensa máquina propagandística del estado.
Los informativos de los canales nacionales de televisión —y no hay ningún canal nacional que no sea propiedad del estado— siguen un patrón simple a la par que persuasivo: aquí va una noticia sobre el presidente; aquí está saludando a un embajador extranjero y dando un discurso sobre el papel especial que desempeña Bielorrusia en la estabilidad y la paz mundial; aquí está reunido con el ministro del interior y haciendo una declaración sobre la importancia de preservar la estabilidad y la paz en la sociedad; aquí está gritando al consejo de ministros que tienen que hacer lo que haga falta para seguir sus sabias ideas por el bien del pueblo (por no hablar de la paz y la estabilidad); aquí está visitando la fábrica de una pequeña ciudad hablándoles a los obreros cual padre bondadoso, diciéndoles que él proveerá.
Tras media hora con cosas así, le llega el turno a un caleidoscopio de imágenes del resto del mundo: proyectiles cayendo sobre Ucrania; bombas destruyendo un hospital sirio; algún presidente raro haciendo declaraciones absurdas al otro lado del océano; un terrorista haciendo estallar otra ciudad europea; refugiados, inundaciones, recesiones, gobiernos que colapsan.
Y, después, una historia de niños felices en una guardería bielorrusa. Más imágenes de un país pacífico guiado por un sabio líder que se erige como el último bastión de felicidad, la última isla de estabilidad en un mundo violento.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Pero hay otros tipos de programas en la televisión nacional. Los emiten cuando las autoridades empiezan a notar que la imagen de «paz y estabilidad» que proyectan contradice a la otra realidad: la que la gente ve en las calles y en el trabajo, en las tiendas y en el transporte público, en hospitales y escuelas; la realidad de la vida fuera de la matriz de la propaganda del estado.
A comienzos de 2017, miles de personas de todo el país salieron a la calle a manifestarse. Las protestas fueron provocadas por un nuevo decreto presidencial, el tercero, que multa a quienes no puedan demostrar tener un trabajo o fuente de ingresos oficial. Lo han apodado el decreto «del parásito social». Existe un antiguo término soviético, tuniejadcy, cuyo significado oficial es «parásito»: el «parasitismo» estaba considerado delito en la era soviética, pues se esperaba que todo el mundo trabajase para construir «la sociedad utópica comunista». He aquí una innovación bielorrusa: en lugar de subvencionar a los parados, el gobierno ha decidido multarles.
El decreto solo fue el detonante. La verdadera razón de las protestas es la profunda crisis económica que asola el país. Resulta que la «estabilidad» bielorrusa se trata en realidad de un estado de coma. Nuestra economía, fundamentada en la industria, es herencia de la era soviética y nunca ha pasado por reformas. Estas habrían conllevado la privatización, la modificación de leyes para asegurar garantías al capital, la independencia del poder judicial y un parlamento electo en condiciones, en lugar de uno puesto a dedo por el presidente. Estos pasos, de haberlos seguido, habrían socavado profundamente el régimen autoritario.
Así pues, la economía del país ha llegado hasta hoy sin mayores alteraciones. Durante casi dos décadas se benefició del petróleo y el gas que llegaban baratos de Rusia, así como de préstamos que el Kremlin se podía permitir debido a los altos precios del petróleo y a la necesidad de contar con un aliado cerca. La relación se ha enfriado desde entonces, en parte por la oposición de Bielorrusia a la anexión rusa de Crimea.
La gente comenzaba a notar las dificultades económicas, especialmente en las ciudades pequeñas. Entonces fue cuando llegó el impuesto del «parásito social», que desató las protestas. La gente salió a las calles de Bielorrusia por primera vez desde 2011; en algunos pueblos, no lo hacían desde la década de 1990.
Las movilizaciones recibieron una dura respuesta. La policía arrestó a cientos de personas, a pesar de la naturaleza totalmente pacífica de las manifestaciones. Durante los acontecimientos de Minsk de marzo de 2017, las fuerzas antidisturbios actuaron con brutalidad y arrestaron a alrededor de mil personas. Algunas de ellas eran transeúntes detenidos por error. Otros, periodistas con acreditación en regla.
Aliaksandr Barazenka, cámara del canal Belsat TV, fue detenido durante las protestas del 25 de marzo de 2017 en Minsk. Existe un vídeo de él gritando «¡Soy periodista!» a matones uniformados, que lo agarran y lo meten a rastras en un furgón policial. Más tarde, en el juzgado, los agentes antidisturbios dijeron que Barazenka había estado jurando en público. El juez no prestó la más mínima atención a las claras discrepancias entre sus declaraciones. Barazenka fue condenado a 15 días de detención administrativa, que pasó en huelga de hambre en un centro de detención. Se dieron muchos más ejemplos como estos durante la primavera de 2017. Pero estas historias nunca salen por la televisión estatal.
Pese a todo, aún quedan medios independientes, de un modo u otro, en Bielorrusia. Todavía hay algún periódico no perteneciente al estado, alguna publicación digital que muestra lo que está pasando. Hay blogueros y redes sociales. De hecho, cuando los medios nacionales transmitieron el montaje de los cócteles molotov, emergió un vídeo en internet que revelaba que no había ni policía ni supuestos delincuentes, solo una furgoneta y un puñado de operadores de cámara de la televisión del estado.
Por mucho que se estén contando las historias del periodista Barazenka y de otros manifestantes detenidos, desgraciadamente la realidad delirante y violenta de la televisión nacional prevalece. «Las palabras de los medios están devaluadas. A las autoridades ya no les interesa lo que sabemos ni lo que pensamos sobre ellas», afirmó Viktar Martinovich, escritor bielorruso de éxito, en el Belarus Journal. «Ya no les hace falta público. Están solos. Creen que son lo bastante poderosos, que son eternos. Y nos faltan las palabras para demostrar que se equivocan».
Aquí hay uno que cree que encontraremos las palabras.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Andrei Aliaksandrau es un periodista afincado en Minsk, Bielorrusia. Es editor del Belarus Journal.
Este artículo fue publicado en la revista de Index on Censorship en verano de 2017.
Traducción de Arrate Hidalgo.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row content_placement=”top”][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”100 years on” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:24|text_align:left” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2Fnewsite02may%2F2017%2F12%2Fwhat-price-protest%2F|||”][vc_column_text]Through a range of in-depth reporting, interviews and illustrations, the summer 2017 issue of Index on Censorship magazine explores how the consequences of the 1917 Russian Revolution still affect freedoms today, in Russia and around the world.
With: Andrei Arkhangelsky, BG Muhn, Nina Khrushcheva[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”91220″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/newsite02may/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%2Fnewsite02may%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.
Every subscriber helps support Index on Censorship’s projects around the world.
SUBSCRIBE NOW[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
02 Jan 18 | Journalism Toolbox Russian
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Когда американцы только начинают вникать в понятие «дезинформация», белорусы имеют дело с этим приемом уже многие годы, пишет Андрей Алиаксандрау”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]
Вооруженная милиция окружила протестующих в Минске, Беларусь, по итогам выборов в 2010, после заявлений про сфальсифицированные результаты , Isabel Sommerfeld/Flickr
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Ложные новости появились в Беларуси давно. В апреле на телеканалах и в газетах вышел сюжет – ужасающие фотографии протестующих с коктейлями Молотова и другими видами оружия. Демонстранты, за информацией репортажей, были частью Белого Легиона, члены которого, якобы хотели разжечь восстание в Минске наподобие протеста Евромайдан, который распространился в Украине в 2013/2014 и способствовал Крымскому кризису.
Интересно то, что у этих репортажей не было авторства. Там вообще не было ни названия, ни подписи, ни свидетельств того, что Белый легион, который существует, действовал на каком-нибудь уровне в последние несколько лет. Интересно, что и полиция, и силы безопасности не дали ответы на запросы от журналистов и общественности об этом деле.
Этот сюжет, как выяснилось, был просто подделан, подкинут под видом новостей, как часть извращенной реальности, которая транслировалась, распространяя страх и панику в обществе. Послание населению – не выходите на улицу и не протестуйте. Те, кто это делает – подрывает мир и стабильность.
Это типичная тактика, которая проводится в Беларуси годами – реальные новости подавляются, а поддельные процветают. Эта тактика используется в настоящее время, поскольку в 2017 году начались самые интенсивные протесты в стране, с применением насилия со стороны правительства.
В составе Советского Союза Беларусь была достаточно процветающей. Но когда СССР распался, Беларусь перешла в экономический спад. В разгар экономических и политических потрясений пришел к власти Александр Лукашенко. Президент Лукашенко сохраняет свою власть уже 23 года. В значительной степени, это объясняется его строгим контролем средств массовой информации. Нападения на свободу прессы, блоггеров, независимых писателей и журналистов ведутся параллельно с обширной деятельностью государственной пропагандистской машины.
Программы новостей по государственным телевизионным каналам, и нет национальных телевизионных каналов, помимо государственных, применяют простую, но убедительную схему: здесь начинаются новости о президенте; здесь он приветствует иностранного посла и выступает с речью о той особой роли, которую Беларусь играет в обеспечении стабильности и мира во всем мире; здесь он встречается с министром внутренних дел, с тем чтобы сделать заявление о важности сохранения стабильности и мира в обществе; здесь он кричит Кабинету министров, что им придётся сделать все возможное для того, чтобы следовать его мудрым идеям в интересах народа (не говоря уже о мире и стабильности). Он приезжает на фабрику в маленьком городе, разговаривает с рабочими, как заботливый отец, и говорит им, что он будет обеспечивать их. Через полчаса, после этого, наблюдается калейдоскоп картинок из остальной части мира: снаряды, падающие на Украину; бомбы, разрушающие госпиталь в Сирии; какой-то странный Президент делает несколько бредовых заявлений через океан; террорист, который взорвал еще один город в Европе; беженцы, наводнения, спады, развал правительств.
А потом рассказ о счастливых детях в белорусском детском саду. Еще несколько образов мирной страны, возглавляемой мудрым лидером, который остается последней надеждой на счастье, последним островом стабильности в мире с применением насилия.
Но существуют и другие виды программ по государственному телевидению. Они выводятся в эфир, когда власти начинают чувствовать, что “мир и стабильность”,
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
может позволить себе из-за высоких цен и необходимости в соседнем союзнике. Но сегодняшние отношения охладели, отчасти из-за того, что Беларусь выступила против аннексии Крыма в России. Люди заметили экономические трудности, особенно в малых городах. Затем появился налог на социальных паразитов, который действовал в качестве триггера для протестов. С 90-х годов люди впервые вышли на улицы Белоруссии с 2011, или даже в некоторых небольших городах с 1990 года.
Ответ был суровым. Сотни людей были задержаны полицией, несмотря на абсолютно мирный характер их протестов. Во время событий в Минске, в марте 2017, полиция по беспорядкам применяла жестокую силу, арестовали около тысячи человек. Некоторые были случайными прохожими. Некоторые из них были журналистами с законными документами.
Аляксандр Баразенка, оператор Белсат ТВ-канала, был задержан вовремя протеста, 25 марта 2017, в Минске. Есть видео о том, где он кричал головорезам, которые схватили его и тащили в полицейский фургон “Я – журналист!”. Позднее в суде сотрудники полиции, которые принимали участие в операции, сказали, что Баразенка использовал нецензурную лексику на публике. Судья не уделил никакого внимания конкретным несостыковкам в деле. Баразенка был приговорен к 15 дням административного ареста и провёл их в тюрьме, где объявил голодовку. Весной 2017 года можно проследить много похожих примеров. Но это те истории, которых никогда не покажут на государственном телевидении.
В Беларуси по-прежнему существуют некоторые формы независимых средств массовой информации. По-прежнему существуют негосударственные газеты и электронные публикации, которые рассказывают о том, что происходит. Есть блоги и социальные сети. На самом деле, когда государственные СМИ транслировали сцену с коктейлями в “Молотова”, видеозапись в Интернете показала, что там не было ни полицейских, ни предполагаемых преступников, просто фургон и куча государственных телевизионных камер. Рассказы журналиста Баразенка и других задержанных протестующих стают известными. Но, к сожалению, бред злобной пропаганды преобладает.
“Новости от средств массовой информации обесценены. Власти больше не заинтересованы в том, что мы знаем и думаем о них, “написал Виктар Мартинович, известный белорусский писатель, в Белорусском Журнале. “Им больше не нужна публика. Они сами по себе. Они думают, что они достаточно сильны и вечны. И у нас не хватает слов, чтобы доказать, что они ошибаются. “
Я верю – мы найдем эти слова.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Андрей Алиаксандрау — журналист с Минска, Беларусь. Он редактор Белорусского Журнала
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row content_placement=”top”][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”100 years on” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:24|text_align:left” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2Fnewsite02may%2F2017%2F12%2Fwhat-price-protest%2F|||”][vc_column_text]Through a range of in-depth reporting, interviews and illustrations, the summer 2017 issue of Index on Censorship magazine explores how the consequences of the 1917 Russian Revolution still affect freedoms today, in Russia and around the world.
With: Andrei Arkhangelsky, BG Muhn, Nina Khrushcheva[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”91220″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/newsite02may/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%2Fnewsite02may%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.
Every subscriber helps support Index on Censorship’s projects around the world.
SUBSCRIBE NOW[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
27 Dec 17 | Belarus, Mapping Media Freedom, Media Freedom, media freedom featured, News and features, Volume 46.04 Winter 2017 Extras
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”The winter 2017 issue of Index on Censorship magazine examines the state of the right of assembly 50 years on from 1968. Kyra McNaughton details how authorities in Belarus police the reporting of protests using data from Index on Censorship’s Mapping Media Freedom project.”][vc_column_text]
Belarusian police detain Belarus Free Theatre’s Siarhai Kvachonok on Saturday March 25 2017 during protests against Presidential Decree No 3, which imposes a tax on unemployed people. (Photo: Tut.by)
“Europe’s last dictatorship” doesn’t tolerate dissent. The country’s constitution claims to protect freedom of the press, but many laws seem to contradict this.
Independent outlets are constrained by laws in favor of state-run media. Most frequently targeted are Belarus’s independent journalists and Belsat TV, alternatives to the heavily censored state-run Belarusian news. These targeted journalists often fall victim to Belarus’ restrictive regime for press accreditation, a system used by the government to “maintain its monopoly on information in one of the world’s most restrictive environments for media freedom”, according to a report by Index.
“An openly critical stance of the [Belsat TV] towards the authorities of Belarus results in the situation when it is not officially registered in the country and its journalists are pushed beyond the legal system through rules that neither grant them official accreditation, nor recognise freelancers as journalists”, said Andrei Aliaksandrau, deputy director of BelaPAN and editor of the Belarus Journal. “Reporters are subject to administrative prosecution, arrests and fines on ridiculous charges of ‘illegal production of mass media materials’”.
In order to stifle awareness of the public’s unhappiness with the current political climate, the government targets journalists covering protests before, during and after the demonstrations. Index’s Mapping Media Freedom has documented as many as 22 cases since 2015.
“For the past 20 years the authorities in Belarus have been known for their harsh police violence against street protests, including against journalists … After 2011 street protests and mass opposition rallies became rare in Belarus, right until early 2017 when people returned to the streets of Belarusian cities to protest against deterioration of economic situation. The police used brutal force again; and journalists were among those detained”, said Aliaksandrau.
With tactics ranging from detention to assault, Belarusian law enforcement specifically go after independent reporters in an effort to prevent the public from knowing the full extent of protests.
Before
Between March and May of 2017, MMF documented five cases of journalists detained before they were scheduled to cover protests.
Two Belsat TV journalists and one independent journalist were detained twice in one day on their way to cover protests on 18 March 2017. The journalists were first accused of a traffic violation, then later of stealing a car and robbing a bank, according to MMF. The journalists were going to cover one protest in a series nationwide called against a proposed tax.
That same day, four different groups of Belsat journalists were detained in different cities to prevent coverage of demonstrations.
Also on the same day, two Belsat TV journalists were detained during a live broadcast. They were reporting on a possible protest when two police officers arrived. The two were detained without explanation and released hours later.
During
Since 2015 there are 11 documented cases on MMF of journalists being targeted while on site of a protest.
On 25 March 2017, Freedom Day in Belarus, 39 journalists across the country were detained, totalling around 90 detentions alone in the month of March, according to the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ). MMF reports seven of the 30 detained were beaten by police.
After the mass detentions on Freedom Day, 16 journalists were detained the next day during solidarity rallies across the country. Of those detained between both days, some were charged with “hooliganism” and sentenced from five to fifteen days in prison.
In 2015, as independent blogger Viktar Nikitsenka was leaving a demonstration, plain-clothed police officers seized him and dragged him into a bus where he was reportedly beaten. Information and materials were deleted from his phone and camera and his equipment was stolen. He was fined 450 euros.
When Nikitsenka filed a complaint against the officers for unlawful use of force, it was rejected.
After
On 18 March 2017, four Belsat TV crews intending to report on protests were detained in different cities. In one incident, Belsat TV journalist Ales Lyauchuk reported that he and a colleague were stopped by traffic police after covering a protest, then “dragged out of the car [and] brutally assaulted”. The two were reportedly stopped without explanation and held at the station for three hours, their equipment damaged and seized.
“They said that if this goes on, they will shoot us”, Lyauchuk said.
Five days before, video blogger Maksim Filipovich received three separate prison sentences for participating in “illegal” protests. Riot police arrested him at his parents flat, which he livestreamed.
“Targeting journalists who are trying to report on protests is misuse of official powers and it shows how little media freedom there is in Belarus”, said Joy Hyvarinen, Head of Advocacy.
As coverage of protests is censored by targeted the journalists who cover them, freedom of expression both in the form of journalism but also protest is being stifled. Instead of immediately targeting protests, the Belarusian government diminishes the purpose of a protest, since the cause can’t gain attention.
In countries like Belarus where press freedom is protected by the constitution, rulers ignore the law to advance a political agenda.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row content_placement=”top”][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”What price protest?” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:24|text_align:left” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2Fnewsite02may%2F2017%2F12%2Fwhat-price-protest%2F%20|||”][vc_column_text]Through a range of in-depth reporting, interviews and illustrations, the summer 2017 issue of Index on Censorship magazine explores the 50th anniversary of 1968, the year the world took to the streets, to look at all aspects related to protest.
With: Micah White, Robert McCrum, Ariel Dorfman, Anuradha Roy and more.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”96747″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/newsite02may/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%2Fnewsite02may%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.
Every subscriber helps support Index on Censorship’s projects around the world.
SUBSCRIBE NOW[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Mapping Media Freedom” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_icon icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-times-circle” color=”black” background_style=”rounded” size=”xl” align=”right”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
Since 24 May 2014, Mapping Media Freedom’s team of correspondents and partners have recorded and verified more than 3,700 violations against journalists and media outlets.
Index campaigns to protect journalists and media freedom. You can help us by submitting reports to Mapping Media Freedom.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Don’t lose your voice. Stay informed.” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship is a nonprofit that campaigns for and defends free expression worldwide. We publish work by censored writers and artists, promote debate, and monitor threats to free speech. We believe that everyone should be free to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution – no matter what their views.
Join our mailing list (or follow us on Twitter or Facebook) and we’ll send you our weekly newsletter about our activities defending free speech. We won’t share your personal information with anyone outside Index.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][gravityform id=”20″ title=”false” description=”false” ajax=”false”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”3″ element_width=”12″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1513938526925-22ecd957-f7ad-4″ taxonomies=”19962″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
22 Dec 17 | Events
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”96602″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]This panel is part of Reflective Conservatoire Conference 2018: Artists as Citizens hosted by the Guildhall School.
On 26 September 1968 the Theatres Act abolished a censorship that had controlled plays in Great Britain since 1737. The next day the musical Hair opened in London with rock anthems and nude hippies. Expression was free.
Fifty years on, what are the forces at work that may be challenging a freedom of expression?
Who or what are the new Lord Chamberlains? How free are our performing arts?
This panel discussion, chaired by Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of Index on Censorship, will include contributions from experts from across the sector. It launches the Shakespeare’s Globe series on Shakespeare and Censorship and makes up part of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama’s Reflective Conservatoire Conference.
Delegates to the Reflective Conservatoire Conference will be able to register for complimentary tickets to this panel discussion once they go on sale on 4 December.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
When: Wednesday 21 February, 7pm GMT
Where: Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the Barbican Centre
Tickets: Information via Guildhall School
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
