What are the limits of free speech and civility? What is the nature of “offence”? What earns “respect”? If words can hurt you, are sticks and stones and broken bones the answer?
Index on Censorship magazine will launch its spring issue at this year’s Hay Festival on Saturday 23 May, along with a debate discussing the limits of free speech and the nature of offence. Speakers include: Turkish novelist Elif Shafak, Index chair David Aaronovitch, editor of Index on Censorship magazine Rachael Jolley and academic Sarah Churchwell.
Where: Llwyfan Cymru – Wales Stage, Hay Festival When: Saturday 23 May 2015, 8.30pm Tickets:£8 / order here
Index is also holding a debate on 24 May at Hay Festival, find out more here
Punchy short arguments about flashpoints in freedom of speech debates – porn, blasphemy, Israel, national security. Where do we draw the lines? And why?
Speakers include: Comedian David Baddiel, author and historian Tom Holland, Index chair David Aaronovitch and editor of Index on Censorship magazine Rachael Jolley, along with other guests
Where: Oxfam Moot, at the Hay Festival When: Sunday 24 May 2015, 8.30pm Tickets: £7 / Order here
Index is also launching its spring magazine at Hay Festival on 23 May, more information here
Screening: Cartoonists – Foot Soldiers of Democracy
Directed by Stéphanie Valloatto | 2013 | French with English Subtitles | 110 Mins
In the wake of the recent tragic events in Paris, this powerful and moving film follows 12 loveable and courageous cartoonists – from Tel Aviv, Moscow, New York, Caracas, and Paris – as they brilliantly capture the comedy and tragedy in the world, armed with just a pencil.
Produced by acclaimed Jewish director Radu Mihaileanu (Live and Become, The Concert), Cartoonists is a unique opportunity to explore close-up the difficullties and dangers for those who practice this extraordinary profession. ‘The cartoonists permanently test the degree of democracy in their country and put themselves in the frontline’ explains Mihaileanu, ‘they are the foot soldiers of democracy’.
‘Just like the best political cartoons, Cartoonists manages to synthesize a vast subject in ways both insightful and, at times, frightfully funny’ – Hollywood Reporter
This screening will be followed by a discussion featuring:
Martha Richler, an acclaimed political cartoonist, whose cartoons are also represented in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, and in the Charles Saatchi Collection.
David Aaronovitch, a journalist and a regular columnist for The Times, and author (Paddling to Jerusalem: An Aquatic Tour of Our Small Country, Voodoo Histories: the role of Conspiracy Theory in Modern History). He won the Orwell Prize for political journalism in 2001, and the What the Papers Say “Columnist of the Year” award for 2003.
Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of Index on Censorship, and a former Bureau Chief of Reuters in the UK.
Where: JW3 Howard Hall 341-351 Finchley Road, London NW3 6ET When: Wednesday 25 February 2015 8.00pm Tickets: £5-£10 / Book here
“If we do not change, I think the world will suffer enormously … as a world we’re going to be less and less informed,” said Amie Ferris-Rotman, former Reuters Afghanistan correspondent and panellist for Index on Censorship’s future of journalism at London’s Frontline Club on Wednesday. Ferris-Rotman highlighted concerns over shrinking coverage of world news due to reduction in foreign desks’s budgets, as well as the increasing reliance on underpaid freelancers – especially in conflict zones.
The sold-out event was chaired by columnist, author and Index chairman David Aaronovitch. The panel also included journalism professor Richard Sambrook; director of Hostage UK Rachel Briggs; former Reuters Afghanistan correspondent Amie Ferris-Rotman; and Raymond Joseph, a data journalist and former regional editor of the South African Sunday Times, who appeared via Skype from South Africa.
The debate looked at serious issues affecting journalists today, from surveillance and encryption, to kidnappings and how the media, in turn, should cover kidnappings.
Talking points included whether Isis are using techniques of citizen journalism to spread their propaganda; and how verification is crucial when using information from social media.
Sambrook said hearing something on Twitter doesn’t make it journalism, although it could be vital as “raw material, or a lead”. Joseph spoke of the need to “separate the news from the noise”.
In addition to the main panel, a future panel also provided a contrasting view through the eyes of a selection of young people at the beginning of their journalism careers.
Below are some highlights from the Twitter discussion that took place under the hashtag #futurejournalism.
