25 Jun 2019 | Events
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”82824″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]On 13th June 2019, UK Home secretary Sajid Javid signed a request for Julian Assange to be extradited to the USA. He has since been ordered by the court to face a full extradition hearing in February next year. If granted, the Wikileaks founder could face 18 indictment charges in the US, including those under the Espionage Act. If found guilty he could receive a potential prison sentence of 175 years.
Now that Assange has been ejected from the Ecuadorian embassy and is serving a 50-week sentence in Belmarsh Prison for bail violations, how does the journalism community view the founder of Wikileaks? Assange claims Wikileaks was never involved in hacking classified information and is “nothing but a publisher”. His QC says the US extradition case “represents an outrageous and full-frontal assault on journalistic rights.” For many, there are still unanswered questions.
Does Julian Assange merit our support and solidarity – as a journalist and a defender of the freedom to inform? Or does his personal conduct – in light of allegations of rape and sexual assault, and his documented collaboration with Russian intelligence to disrupt Hillary Clinton’s election campaign – cancel out the debt owed to him by the editors and journalists who used the Wikileaks documents to publish, broadcast and post their many ground-breaking stories and reports?
Join us as the Frontline Club brings together all sides of the debate to discuss the legacy and future of Julian Assange. Each speaker will be cross-examined for 10 minutes by our chair, and face five minutes of questions from the floor. Former editor-in-chief of the Guardian Alan Rusbridger will be joined by columnist and broadcaster David Aaronovitch, chief executive of Index on Censorship Jodie Ginsberg and freelancer Vaughan Smith, with more panellists to be announced.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Panel” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”107623″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Chair
Robin Lustig is a journalist and broadcaster. From 1989-2012 he presented Newshour on BBC World Service and The World Tonight on BBC Radio 4. He studied politics at the University of Sussex and began his journalistic career as a Reuters correspondent in Madrid, Paris and Rome. He then spent 12 years at The Observer before moving into broadcasting in 1989. He has extensive experience of covering major world events for the BBC, and has broadcast live programmes from Abuja, Amman, Baghdad, Berlin, Harare, Hong Kong, Islamabad, Istanbul, Johannesburg, Jerusalem, Kabul, Kosovo, Moscow, New York, Paris, Rome, Sarajevo, Shanghai, Tehran, Tokyo and Washington. He has won a number of awards, including the 1998 Sony Silver Award for Talk/News Broadcaster of the Year. In 2013 he received the Charles Wheeler award for outstanding contribution to broadcast journalism.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”107624″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]David Aaronovitch is a writer, broadcaster and commentator on culture, international affairs, politics and the media. His regular column appears every Thursday in The Times. A former television researcher, producer and programme editor, he has previously written for The Independent, The Guardian and The Observer, winning numerous accolades, including Columnist of the Year 2003. He has appeared on the satirical TV current affairs programme Have I Got News For You, presented a number of radio and television series and programmes on current affairs and historical topics. His first book, and account of a journey by kayak on the rivers and canals of England, Paddling to Jerusalem, was published in 2000 and won the Madoc Prize for travel writing. In 2009 he published Voodoo Histories, a book on the history and attraction of conspiracy theories.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”103419″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Jodie Ginsberg is Chief Executive of Index on Censorship, a London-based organisation that has published work by censored writers and artists and campaigned globally on freedom of expression issues since 1972. Prior to joining Index, Jodie worked as a foreign correspondent and business journalist and was UK Bureau Chief for Reuters news agency. She sits on the council of global free expression network IFEX and the board of the Trust for The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, and is a regular commentator in international media on freedom of expression issues.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”107625″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Suzanne Moore is an English journalist and columnist.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”107627″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Alan Rusbridger was Editor in Chief of the Guardian from 1995-2015. He is currently Principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and Chair of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. During his time at the Guardian, both he and the paper won numerous awards, including the 2014 Pulitzter Prize for Public Service Journalism. The Guardian grew from a printed paper with a circulation of 400,000 to a leading digital news organisation with 150m browsers a month around the world. He launched now-profitable editions in Australia and the US as well as a membership scheme which now has 1m Guardian readers paying for content.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”107626″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Vaughan Smith founded the Frontline Club in London in 2003 as an institution to champion independent journalism. During the 1990’s he ran Frontline Television News, an agency that represented the interests of freelance video journalists. Since 1988 Vaughan has filmed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, Kosovo and elsewhere, including the only uncontrolled footage of the Gulf War in 1991 while disguised for two months as a British Army officer. His home was refuge to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for thirteen months in 2011/12.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]
When: Tuesday 2 July 7:30pm BST
Where: Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place, London W2 1QJ
Tickets: This event is fully booked
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23 Jun 2019
[vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content”][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_custom_heading text=”Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project monitors threats, limitations and violations related to media freedom in five countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine for the purpose of identifying and analysing issues, trends and drivers and exploring possible response options and opportunities for advocating media freedom. The project collects and analyses limitations, threats and violations that affect a journalist as they do their job.
[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_icon icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-globe” color=”black” background_style=”rounded” size=”xl” align=”right” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fmappingmediafreedom.org|||”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]The project builds on the experience and insights gathered during Index’s 4.5 years monitoring media freedom in 43 European countries as part of Mapping Media Freedom platform, which ended its first phase on 31 January 2019 and is now managed by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”106364″ img_size=”medium”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
See the latest policy recommendations for Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Reports” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”98651″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2019/09/in-a-country-that-keeps-its-media-under-a-dome-belaruss-independent-journalists-face-mounting-fines/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
On the surface, Belarus is one of the quieter places for journalists – one rarely hears about gruesome violations, physical assaults or murders of media workers in this post-Soviet country. But a lack of horror stories does not mean there is a liberal policy towards the media.
Read the full report[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”107324″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2019/07/trolls-and-insults-azerbaijans-exiled-media-increasingly-under-fire/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
After the total capture of the media environment inside the country, the government of Ilham Aliyev has turned its attention to silencing critics in exile.
Read the full report[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”98654″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2019/07/turkey-physical-violence-report/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
- In Turkey, the government uses national security and terror legislation to censor journalists.
- Arrests, detentions and trials of media workers are frequent.
- Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating Media Freedom project documented seven assaults in Turkey in May, and another one in June 2019.
Turkey’s freedom of the press was curbed after the attempted military coup in July 2016, when over 150 media outlets were shut down.
Many journalists working in Kurdish territory were subject to physical violence and threats, and Rohat Aktaş, a journalist who covered the Kurdish-Turkish conflict in the town of Cizre, was killed.
Though physical assaults on media workers have become rare in recent years, a recent surge has raised concerns about the continuing pressure on media professionals in the country.
Read the full report[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”98655″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2019/07/ukraine-physical-violence-report/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
- The majority of violations in Ukraine catalogued by Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project from 1 February to 30 June 2019 were categorised as physical assaults, attacks to property or blocked access.
- Most frequently, these actions were taken by agents of the state — whether law enforcement or other governmental structures.
The Monitoring and Advocacy for Media Freedom project has recorded 16 incidents in which journalists have been subjected to physical assaults, and 17 incidents in which journalists has their equipment and property damaged since February 2019, 4 of which are in both categories. The project’s numbers are corroborated by the National Union of Ukrainian Journalists (NSJU), which recorded 36 incidents targeting journalists since 1 January 2019, including physical assaults and attacks on property, as part of their Index of Physical Safety of Ukrainian Journalists.
Read the full report[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”98652″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2019/07/russia-physical-violence-report/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
- Independent media sources have been hamstrung by restrictive legislation and police, governmental, and private interference.
- Physical assaults, detentions, lawsuits, fines, and blocked access are common. Many outlets have chosen to practice self-censorship to protect themselves.
- Strict new laws limiting press freedom have been introduced, despite having progressive press laws from the 1990s still on the books and a constitutional article guaranteeing freedom of the press.
Out of 175 violations recorded in Russia by the Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project between February and June 2019, 20 were physical assaults that came from political figures, police structures, known private individuals and unknown perpetrators. Several of the cases are egregious examples of how physical violence is used to target journalists in Russia.
Read the full report
Previous report: Legislative restrictions, bomb threats and vandalism are just some of the issues Russian journalists have faced this year[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][three_column_post title=”Latest” full_width_heading=”true” category_id=”35195″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Incidents by Month” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][three_column_post title=”Azerbaijan” full_width_heading=”true” category_id=”34499″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][three_column_post title=”Belarus” full_width_heading=”true” category_id=”34498″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][three_column_post title=”Russia” full_width_heading=”true” category_id=”34497″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][three_column_post title=”Turkey” full_width_heading=”true” category_id=”34359″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][three_column_post title=”Ukraine” full_width_heading=”true” category_id=”34327″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Resources” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_icon icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-file-text-o” color=”black” background_style=”rounded” size=”xl” align=”right” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2F2019%2F06%2Fmonitoring-and-advocating-for-media-freedom-methodology%2F|||”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
The project works with a network of independent journalists who monitor local news sources, speak to individuals involved in the situations and interface with journalist unions to understand the facts of the situation and help put the press freedom violation in a larger context.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Mapping Media Freedom reports” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship’s Mapping Media Freedom tracked press freedom violations in 43 countries between 1 May 2014 and 31 January 2019. These reports summarised the findings from that project, which is now managed by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”108218″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/mapping-media-freedom-by-the-numbers-may-2014-july-2018/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
The numbers are stark and the contexts very, but the unmistakable message they convey is that journalism is at risk in the EU35
A companion to Demonising the media: Threats to journalists in Europe, the numbers contained in this document are drawn from 3,187 press freedom violations reported to Mapping Media Freedom, an Index on Censorship project, between May 2014 and July 2018 covering 35 European Union member states, candidates and potential candidates for entry.
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Burned in effigy. Insulted. Menaced. Spat at. Discredited by their nation’s leaders. Assaulted. Sued. Homes strafed with automatic weapons. Rape threats. Death threats. Assassinations.
This is the landscape faced by journalists throughout Europe over the past four years.
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19 Jun 2019 | Monitoring and Advocating Coverage
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Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project tracks press freedom violations in five countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Learn more.
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]How does Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom work?
The project relies on a network of independent journalists who monitor local news sources, speak to individuals involved in the situations and interface with journalist unions to understand the facts of the situation and help put the press freedom violation in a larger context.
Correspondents, who are each responsible for a particular country, submit narrative summaries of the facts of the situation to a research editor, who works with the correspondent to verify the information. The narrative reports are then published in summary form in periodic roundups of developments. Once monthly, a themed article is published highlighting a particular aspect of press freedom drawing on the submitted narratives. Periodically reports summarising the issues for a particular country are published to highlight the situation for journalists on the ground.
Who is a journalist?
Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom defines a journalist a person who gathers, assesses, verifies, organises, and presents news and information, via print, digital or broadcast media; who holds government, business, and other institutions and authorities accountable; who provides citizens with the information they need to make the best possible decisions about their lives, their communities, their societies, and their governments; and who puts the public good above all else, without regard for the political viewpoint of the outlet.
What is a press freedom violation?
Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom defines a “press freedom violation” against a set of categories to help understand the incident and place it in a larger analytical framework.
For example, a journalist barred from reporting in a country’s parliament; a reporter injured by police or demonstrators at the site of a protest, despite presenting press credentials and identifying safety gear. An independent journalist refused entry to a press conference because of material they had previously published. Press freedom violations can take many different forms and the above examples are just a small sampling.
How does Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom evaluate press freedom violations?
Each narrative report that is sent to Monitoring Media Freedom is run against a set of categories to place it in a larger context and allow for analysis.
- Limitation to Media Freedom
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- Death/Killing – Media worker killed as a result of their work
- Physical Assault/Injury – Media worker subjected to violence as a result of their work
- Arrest/Detention/Interrogation – Media worker arrested, detained or called in for questioning as a result of their work
- Criminal Charges/Fines/Sentences – Media worker charged in connection with their work
- Intimidation – Media worker (and/or their family/friends) menaced as a result of their work
- Blocked Access – Media worker prevented from covering a story or speaking to a source; media worker prevented from entering a place/institution/country
- Attack to Property – Media worker’s computers, cameras or other tools damaged while on assignment; media worker’s home or vehicle sabotaged as result of their work; media office sabotaged
- Subpoena / Court Order/ Lawsuits – Media worker sued as a result of their work; Media worker ordered to court; This would also include SLAPP suits where a journalist is targeted with legal action. Libel, defamation suits:
- Legal Measures – Legislation or court rulings that directly curtail media freedom
- Online Defamation/Discredit/Harassment/Verbal Abuse – Media worker harassed, bullied, threatened, ridiculed online (via email/social media/website comments/on forums)
- Offline Defamation/Discredit/Harassment/Verbal Abuse – Media worker harassed, bullied, threatened, ridiculed verbally, in a public or private setting
- DDoS/Hacking/Doxing – News site or journalist targeted with or without violation of privacy
- Censorship — Journalist’s material altered, removed or spiked
- Previously published work substantially edited or removed from public access
- Journalist’s work altered beyond normal editing or withheld from publishing
- Commercial interference: Threats by companies to pull adverts over coverage; Pressure from media owners; Bribing journalists, editors or media outlets to publish fake news or favorable coverage about a company
- Soft censorship: indirect government pressure on media groups through advertising decisions and restrictive legislation;
- Self-censorship: Journalist says they have not reported on a subject because of pressure or fear
- Loss of Employment: Journalist fired, suspended, or forced to quit their job because of their reporting
- Other Serious Issues — other cases that don’t fit into existing categories
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- Employer/Publisher/Colleague(s)
- Police/State security
- Private security
- Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
- Court/Judicial
- Corporation/Company
- Known private individual(s)
- Criminal organisation
- Another media
- Unknown — any other type. If the abusing party is known but there’s also an unknown mastermind, we use two categories – the one that applies to the known party, and Unknown.
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3 Jun 2019 | Events
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”107074″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Exclusive track and video world premiere for ‘The Media’ by Skengdo & AM and Drillminister alongside the art installation Young Blood by Andrei Molodkin bought to you by a/political.
Skengdo & AM and Drillminister will perform live sets, before the first screening of The Media video.
There will also be some words from Jodie Ginsberg (Index On Censorship) and Medg Sullivan (Brixton Wings Charity)
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The art world and Drill scene come together for an unprecedented collaboration against artistic censorship. Russian artist Andrei Molodkin and London Drill musicians Skengdo x AM and Drillminister have united for ‘The Media’ a new track, video and limited edition vinyl release, commenting on freedom of speech and discrimination.
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All funds raised from ticket and vinyl sales will be donated to Brixton Wings, based on the Angell Town estate.
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Andrei Molodkin receives ongoing censorship in the artworld for his provocative exhibitions where he uses the political materials of blood and oil from different
conflict zones. Curators redact his texts, prohibit him from answering to the media, and on numerous occasions, museum-boards have attempted to close his exhibitions.
Skengdo x AM have made legal history after receiving a suspended nine-month sentence for performing their song Attempted 1.0 at Koko, London. Since the high
profile case, the musicians have spoken candidly about the discrimination suffered by the Metropolitan Police and how they have been used as the scapegoats
for governmental failings of lower-income areas. Drillminister, known for his track ‘Political Drillin’, is also leading the political voice of the genre,
The audience will be invited to donate their blood on site.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
When: Friday 7 June 7-9pm
Where: Duke of York’s HQ King’s Road London SW3 4RY (map)
Tickets: From £10
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