Named one of India’s most influential people by The Guardian, Businessweek and Asiaweek, Tarun J. Tejpal is an acclaimed journalist, publisher, novelist and founder of Tehelka, a news organisation that has become renowned globally for its aggressive public interest journalism. He will be joining us in conversation with Shahzeb Jillani, South Asia Editor at BBC World Service News to talk about his work and the media landscape in India today.
Founded in 2000, Tehelka first came to prominence in India the following year when it exposed match-fixing in Indian professional cricket. But it was an investigation into corruption at India’s Ministry of Defence the same year that lead to the resignation of the defence minister that brought Tehelka global recognition. The backlash that followed lead to the temporary closure of Tehelka and death threats that inspired Tejpal‘s his new novel, The Story of My Assassins. In 2003, funded by subscribers Tehelka relaunched and became a weekly magazine in 2007.
Tejpal has been an editor with the India Today and the Indian Express groups, and the managing editor of the news magazine Outlook. As the founder of independent publishing house India Ink, he published Arundhati Roy’s Booker Award-winning novel, The God of Small Things.
]]>Founded in 2000, Tehelka first came to prominence in India the following year when it exposed match-fixing in Indian professional cricket. But it was an investigation into corruption at India’s Ministry of Defence the same year that lead to the resignation of the defence minister that brought Tehelka global recognition. The backlash that followed lead to the temporary closure of Tehelka and death threats that inspired Tejpal‘s his new novel, The Story of My Assassins. In 2003, funded by subscribers Tehelka relaunched and became a weekly magazine in 2007.
Tejpal has been an editor with the India Today and the Indian Express groups, and the managing editor of the news magazine Outlook. As the founder of independent publishing house India Ink, he published Arundhati Roy’s Booker Award-winning novel, The God of Small Things.
]]>In association with BBC College of Journalism
Governments and security forces are becoming increasingly wise to the role of social media in organising and enhancing protest movements. As a result they are developing new ways to block, hack and track citizens tweets, Facebook and other social media tools in order to prevent unrest.
Protesters and citizen journalists the world over are able to stay one step ahead, however with the help of Open Source developed phone apps that allow them to communicate effectively without being tracked as easily. From letting friends know if you’ve been arrested to getting your story public, there is an app for all possible situations.
ObscuraCam, a collaborative project between Witness and technology-focused activists, has developed a camera app for Android phones. It allows the user to share video and images without it being tracked back to them through data embedded into the file, whilst detecting and obscuring faces. Protestors can now safely share information without fear of identification.
But will apps really protect protesters, and are they any safer than traditional social media? What do mobile apps mean for citizen journalism? Join us at the Frontline Club for a lively debate about the latest technology for protesters and citizen journalists and how far technology could go in making protest safer and smarter.
Chaired by Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC’s technology correspondent and author of the blog, dot.rory. (@BBCRoryCJ)
With:
Christian Payne, mobile media maker and professional blogger. He champions story making with mobile devices and explores new social media and its applications. He can also be found speaking internationally on technology and lecturing MA journalism students at Goldsmiths. (@documentally)
Sam Carlisle, entrepreneur, hacker and developer of the Sukey mobile app that crowdsources information during demonstrations onto a map, allowing protestors to stay safe and one step ahead.(@samthetechie)
Tom Barfield, site editor and community manager at Demotix, the crowdsourced photojournalism wire. He’s a linguist, sci-fi and technology lover and something of a news junkie. (@tombarfield)
Ryan Schlief, programe manager at Witness. An international nonprofit organisation that uses video and storytelling to inform the world of human rights abuses. They are also one half of the Obscuracam collaboration. (@witnessryan)
Image Credit: The Guardian Project
]]>No one who attended last night’s discussion at the Frontline Club on the safety of journalists was under any illusion that the issue was not an important one, but few there could have anticipated that it would be so topical.
News of the death of Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin, a regular at the Frontline Club, and French photographer Remi Ochlik in a shelling in Homs has shocked and saddened the journalist community.
The reports of the respected journalists’ deaths came after the Committee to Protect Journalists released their annual report highlighting the risks journalists take in order to shed light in dark places.
Attacks on the Press was presented by CPJ executive director Joel Simon, alongside a panel including Colin Pereira, head of safety and security at ITN; Maziar Bahari, a journalist who was detained in Iran in 2009, and chaired by award-winning journalist Jenny Kleeman, who has been working with Channel 4’s Unreported World since 2007.
The report outlines the impact the events of 2011 had on news crews all over the world, with hundreds of journalists being imprisoned, censored, supressed and exiled around the world.
“How can you protect journalists when they are close to the action? A certain amount of risk is inevitable, but we have to embrace it. Information is important, valuable, and sometimes it is worth taking a calculated risk for,” said Simon.
It plays a pivotal role in our lives.
“You can’t control the risks – but you can control the people you send,” added Pereira. “But like any machine we get very tired. Our resources are depleted. What is becoming apparent to major broadcasters is that the real risk is not [having] foreign news crews parachuting in to countries, it’s the local journalists.”
Last night, CPJ casualty figures for 2012 stood at six. Last year, over forty journalists were killed. These figures lie in stark contrast to the two journalists killed in World War I.
The terrain journalists cover has changed. From being seen as neutral observers bearing witness to events, they are increasingly being targeted in a bid to silence unfavourable reports against governments.
The tumultuous events of 2011 has seen ‘crackdown’ become a buzzword among press freedom organisations. In Egypt, where documenting the unrest can be seen as highly damaging to the regime, journalists have reported being targeted and attacked. In Iran, threats by the government have extended to the harassment of journalists’ family members.
The panel believed one of the reasons the number of journalists killed has rocketed over the past years is because of a reigning culture of impunity.
“Governments think they can get away with kidnapping, murder and targeting,” said Bahari.
“Frontline news gatherers are increasingly local, online and freelance journalists, and are victims of violence and repression because they work without the same support that journalists with media organisations have,” said Simon.
He urged media organisations and support groups to come together to fight censorship or information and the reigning culture of impunity.
“We need to create a global coalition against censorship, a community of global citizens. [Censorship is] something I feel is an emerging threat and needs to be challenged.”
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Over 40 journalists were killed during a tumultuous year of political unrest last year. Hundreds more remain imprisoned, censored, suppressed and exiled around the world.
Increasingly pressured into self-censorship through intimidation, fear and legislation, journalists are facing increasingly dangerous times. Such danger are compounded by repressive governments and violent criminal groups.
Join us at the Frontline Club for the first in a series of events, screenings and workshops examining the challenges to safety faced by journalists around the world.
We will be discussing the dangers faced by journalists today and the impact on journalism of a world more and more people are demanding their rights to equality and justice. What more can be done to protect journalists in their work?
The event will also mark the launch of the Committee to Protect Journalists’ Attacks on the Press report which will be presented by CPJ executive director Joel Simon.
Chaired by Award-winning journalist and reporter, Jenny Kleeman, has been working with Channel 4’sUnreported World since 2007, reporting from locations as diverse as the Amazon rainforest, the slums of Liberia and most recently Afghanistan. She writes regularly for the Guardian, Sunday Times and Independent.
With:
Joel Simon, executive director of the CPJ, under which they launched the ‘Global Campaign Against Impunity’ and established the ‘Journalist Assistance program’ which provides help to journalists in distress.
Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari who was detained in Iran during the uprising following the 2009 disputed election. He is author of Then They Came for Me: A story of injustice and survival in Iran’s most notorious prison.
(via Skype) Libyan contractor turned fixer, Suliman Ali Zway who was recently awarded the Martin Adler prize alongside Osama Alfitory for their dedication and bravery in reporting the conflict in Libya. They are known to international journalists as ‘The A-Team.’
Colin Pereira, head of safety and security at ITN, he is responsible for the security of ITN operations in high risk environments. Previously he was deputy head of the BBC High Risk Team. He has advised on thousands of deployments around the world, ranging from the London riots to deploying crews to downtown Mogadishu. He is also head of high risk for 1st Option Safety, specialising in production and freelance safety.
In association with CPJ
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After the event, an edited version without adverts is posted on the event page and a podcast is made available via itunes.
Happy watching!
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The following week we will be launching a series of discussions, screenings and workshops examining the risks faced by journalists around the world.
The award-winning, genre-bending documentary filmmaker Mads Brügger launches our new masterclass series, and Tweets from Tahrir is the first of our Screenings from the Frontline with Al Jazeera.
February’s #FCBBCA will bring together a distinguished panel to discuss Iran’s internal power struggle and its turbulent relationship with the West.
We will also be examining the rebuilding of Libya and Fawzia Koofi will be discussing why she wants to become President of Afghanistan, while Matt Frei will be joining us to look back on his career.
Follow us on Twitter and catch up on any events you missed on the Forum blog or download our podcasts on iTunes.
ALL EVENTS ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
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Our season of screenings goes on to include a documentary on the ground-breaking work of three ‘violence interrupters’ who work in the crime-ridden streets of Chicago, and an exploration into the global economy and human toll of the ‘war’ on cocaine. An African Election analyses the lead-up to the dramatic 2008 presidential election in Ghana and The Truth That Wasn’t There offers an unprecedented view into the aftermath of the civil war in Sri Lanka that ended in 2009.
This year has seen dramatic events across the Middle East and North Africa and our talks in August will begin by examining the situation in Syria. Later in the month we will be bringing the focus back to the two countries, Tunisia and Egypt, where the Arab Spring first took hold and discussing what has changed since. As the 10-year anniversary of the September 11 approaches, we will be discussing the "War on Terror" and whether it is time that we reassess our involvement in the Arab world.
For "In the picture" we will joined by Toby Smith who recently spent two months in China documenting the country’s new attempts to address escalating energy and environmental problems.
Follow us on Twitter and catch up on any events you missed on the Forum blog or download our podcasts on iTunes.
ALL EVENTS ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
]]>Screenings in the week ahead include Victory Day, a portrait of journalism and crime in Russia; a special preview screening of Armadillo following young Danish soldiers stationed in Afghanistan and Granito, documenting the search for justice in Guatemala
Next week’s third party event will be examining the tools of the modern media age. We will be annoucing the subject of April’s First Wednesday discussion tomorrow.
And don’t forget our Club Quiz tonight – enter as an individual or as a team of six for an evening of entertainment hosted by David Dickinson.
Cartoonist Martin Rowson will be speaking at the Club in his own entertaining fashion about the power of satire, how he uses cartoons to create acerbic critiques of the world of politics and politicians and explaining how he goes about his work.
Rowson has colourfully caricatured the political climate since 1982. His recent depictions of Nick Clegg as Pinnochio have brought him praise and awards (including Political Cartoonist of the Year 2010). In 2001 Ken Livingstone appointed him London’s first Cartoonist Laureate in exchange for one pint of London Pride per annum. This payment is still six pints in arrears, and despite being apparently reappointed by Boris Johnson, not a single pint has been forthcoming from the current mayor.
Rowson‘s work has appeared regularly in The Guardian, The Times, The Independent on Sunday, The Daily Mirror, The Spectator, The New Statesman, Tribune and The Morning Star, as well as many other publications. He has penned comic books, a novel Snatches and a memoir Stuff.
Rowson won the Cartoon Art Trust’s Political Cartoonist of the Year Award in 2000 and 2004, and the Political Cartoon Society’s Cartoon of the Year in 2003 and 2007. He also won the prestigious Premio Satiri de Forte di Marmi International Satire Award in 2006.
Laurie Taylor, who will moderate the event, is a sociologist and broadcaster. He regularly presents Thinking Allowed on BBC Radio 4 and is the commissioning editor for New Humanist.
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