14 Feb 2017 | Magazine
[vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content” full_height=”yes” columns_placement=”stretch” equal_height=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1594032073955{background-image: url(https://www.indexoncensorship.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/magazine-art-1460×490.png?id=80524) !important;}”][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Shakespearean actress Janet Suzman said about our special Shakespeare 400 issue: “From every corner of the unfree world the essays you have printed bear me out; theatre is a danger to ignorance and autocracy and Shakespeare still holds the sway. I congratulate you and Index on giving such space to a writer who is still bannable after 400 plus years.”” google_fonts=”font_family:Libre%20Baskerville%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700|font_style:400%20italic%3A400%3Aitalic”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
A quarterly magazine set up in 1972, Index has published oppressed writers and refused to be silenced across 252 issues.
The brainchild of the poet Stephen Spender, and translator Michael Scammell, the magazine’s very first issue included a never-before-published poem, written while serving a sentence in a labour camp, by the Nobel Prize-winning Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
The magazine continued to be a thorn in the side of Soviet censors, but its scope was far wider. From the beginning, Index declared its mission to stand up for free expression as a fundamental human right for people everywhere – it was particularly vocal in its coverage of the oppressive military regimes of southern Europe and Latin America, but was also clear that freedom of expression was not only a problem in faraway dictatorships. The winter 1979 issue, for example, reported on a controversy in the United States in which the Public Broadcasting Service had heavily edited a documentary about racism in Britain, and then gone to court attempting to prevent screenings of the original version.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_icon icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left” color=”custom” align=”right” custom_color=”#dd3333″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_custom_heading text=”An archive of past battles won, and a beacon of present and future struggles. It’s unique brand of practical, practising advocacy is as necessary as ever.” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:left|color:%23dd3333″ google_fonts=”font_family:Libre%20Baskerville%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700|font_style:400%20italic%3A400%3Aitalic”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Index stood firmly against the apartheid regime. South African Nadine Gordimer, yet another Nobel prize-winning author, wrote regularly for the magazine. Big names from around the literary world flocked to contribute to the magazine, often before their struggles had brought internal accolade – a single issue in 1983 included the exiled Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka, later a Nobel prize winner, and Czechoslovakian dissident Vaclav Havel, who went on to be his country’s last president before it split into Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Kurt Vonnegut and Arthur Miller were also among the more famous bylines. Salman Rushdie, the author at the centre of the Satanic Verses controversy, was frequently featured on Index’s pages while there was a bounty offered for his murder by the Iranian government.
After the fall of communism, there was a widespread misconception that censorship was “over”, but journalists, authors and dissidents have continually reached out to Index when squeezed. The Russian reporter Anna Politkovskaya wrote in 2002 of the threats made against her life when she began investigating Russia’s war in Chechnya, four years before she was assassinated in Moscow.
After more than 40 years, Index continues to stand with the silenced all over the world. In October 2016, the Times Literary Supplement described it as “an archive of past battles won, and a beacon of present and future struggles. It’s unique brand of practical, practising advocacy is as necessary as ever.”
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Words: Kieran Etoria-King[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row content_placement=”top”][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Support Index” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:24|text_align:left” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2F2016%2F12%2Ffashion-rules%2F|||”][vc_column_text]
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20 Dec 2016 | Awards, Press Releases
Index on Censorship is delighted to announce CNN as its media partner for the 2017 Freedom of Expression Awards.
The awards, now in their 17th year, honour those at the forefront of tackling censorship in the field of arts, campaigning, digital advocacy and journalism. Many of the winners face regular persecution for their work, including jail, death threats or harassment.
Award winners are honoured at a gala ceremony in London in April and receive training, promotion and year-long assistance from Index as part of their prize.
Judges for this year’s awards include Harry Potter actor Noma Dumezweni, former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown and award-winning lawyer Caoilfhionn Gallagher, who represented the families of the victims of the Hillsborough football disaster.
“The media is under threat throughout the world – and not just from ‘traditional’ enemies,” said Jodie Ginsberg, Index on Censorship chief executive. “In Europe, journalists and journalism organisations are under severe pressure. Governments are widening surveillance powers and national security laws in a way that makes investigating corruption and malpractice ever more difficult. In the United States, the language coming from those at the top is painting the media as the enemy.”
“Given the pressures facing the media, it’s great to be working with an organisation that understands and recognises these threats through its work internationally,” she added.
“CNN is proud to support journalism through our extensive affiliate network of over 1,100 broadcast and digital publishers worldwide,” said Greg Beitchman, Vice President, Content Sales and Partnerships, CNN International Commercial. “We admire the work done by the Freedom of Expression Awards and look forward to being part of this important initiative to recognise vital journalism done all over the world.”
In addition to CNN, VICE News has also renewed its sponsorship of the Index awards. In 2016, VICE News journalists Philip Pendlebury and Jake Hanrahan presented the Freedom of Expression Award for Journalism to Zaina Erhaim, a Syrian-based journalist training female reporters. Index had campaigned for Phil and Jake’s release and that of their colleague Mohammed Rasool after they were arrested and imprisoned by Turkish authorities on charges of assisting a terrorist organisation.
Neil Breakwell, London Bureau Chief, VICE News said: “VICE News is proud to support the Index on Censorship awards and the courageous work of journalists, many of whom risk their lives daily to bring us the news.”
He added: “2016 has seen an alarming increase in the arbitrary arrests of reporters, the silencing of dissenting news outlets and threats of violence to media workers around the world. Impartial, fact-based journalism has never been more important and neither has the work of those, like Index, who strive to protect it.”
Previous winners of the Freedom of Expression awards include Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim and Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. 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.
The shortlist for the 2017 awards will be announced in early 2017 and the winners will be announced on 19 April at the Unicorn Theatre, London.
For more information, please contact: Sean Gallagher – [email protected].
Notes for editors
Index on Censorship, founded in 1972 by poet Stephen Spender, campaigns for freedom of expression worldwide. Its award-winning quarterly magazine has featured writers such as Vaclav Havel, Nadine Gordimer, Arthur Miller, Philip Pullman, Salman Rushdie, Aung San Suu Kyi and Amartya Sen.
Award winners become Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award Fellows and receive training and support for a year after the awards to help them maximise the impact of their work.
13 Dec 2016 | Awards, Press Releases
Harry Potter actor Noma Dumezweni, Doughty Street Chambers lawyer Caiolfhionn Gallagher, former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown, Superflux co-founder Anab Jain and Heaven 17’s former manager Stephen Budd.
Harry Potter actor Noma Dumezweni will join a panel of judges that also includes Hillsborough lawyer Caiolfhionn Gallagher and former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown to decide the 2017 Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award winners.
The awards, now in their 17th year, honour those at the forefront of challenging censorship in the field of arts, campaigning, journalism and digital advocacy. Many of the winners face regular persecution for their work.
Dumezweni, who plays Hermione in the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, was shortlisted earlier this year for an Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress. Speaking about the importance of the Index Awards she said: “Freedom of expression is essential to help challenge our perception of the world”.
Caoilfhionn Gallagher is a public law specialist at Doughty Street Chambers who represented the bereaved families in the 7/7 London bombings, and the Hillsborough football stadium tragedy. In October 2016 she was named Human Rights and Public Law Junior of the Year at the Chambers UK Bar Awards.
“Freedom of expression is needed now more than ever, as many governments worldwide are attempting to stifle critical voices. Some do this in ways which are blatant breaches of fundamental freedoms, others’ methods are more subtle but still pose a significant threat to free speech and democracy. Now, more than ever, we must fight to protect and champion freedom of expression,” said Gallagher.
Other judges on the panel include Tina Brown, an award-winning journalist and former editor-in-chief of Tatler, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker; Anab Jain, TED fellow and co-founder of Superflux, a company focused on emerging technologies; and Stephen Budd, chairman of the Music Managers Forum and co-founder of Damon Albarn’s ‘Africa Express’ musical collaborations project.
Announcing the judging panel, Index on Censorship chief executive Jodie Ginsberg said: “No one should be punished for speaking freely — yet across the world we see journalists muzzled for challenging politicians, musicians silenced for questioning the status quo, or cartoonists forced to drop their pens because they mocked the powerful and the corrupt.”
“Our awards celebrate those who fight back. And we’re delighted to have such an impressive panel selecting this year’s winners.”
Previous winners of the Freedom of Expression awards include Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim, and Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. 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, novelist Elif Shafak, journalist and campaigner Mariane Pearl, and human rights lawyer Keir Starmer.
The Freedom of Expression Awards 2017 will be held on April 19 at the Unicorn Theatre.
For more information, please contact Helen Galliano: [email protected].
Notes for editors
Index on Censorship, founded in 1972 by poet Stephen Spender, campaigns for freedom of expression worldwide. Its award-winning quarterly magazine has featured writers such as Vaclav Havel, Nadine Gordimer, Arthur Miller, Philip Pullman, Salman Rushdie, Aung San Suu Kyi and Amartya Sen.
Award winners become Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award Fellows and receive training and support for a year after the awards to help them maximise the impact of their work.
7 Oct 2016 | Index in the Press
Eurozine syndicates Andrey Arkhangelsky’s Index on Censorship magazine piece.
Ten years after the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, investigative journalism in Russia continues to be made impossible by the state. Having taken control of traditional media, the authorities are targeting the enclaves of free speech that have developed online, writes Andrey Arkhangelsky. Read the full article
