triggerhappymedia

Index on Censorship is Britain’s leading organization promoting freedom of expression. Founded in 1972 by a group of writers, journalists, and artists, Index publishes a quarterly magazine and maintains an excellent website dedicated to censorship issues.

In 2003, I interviewed then editor Judith Vidal-Hall. Our conversation has only become more relevant with the passage of time. Last week Obama advanced new arguments in defense of the warrantless wiretaping program authorized by Bush days after September 11th.

Jenny Montasir: How did Index on Censorship change after the fall of communism?

Judith Vidal-Hall: The magazine went off the market for a brief period after the wall came down and communism collapsed. And people said you’ve done a fantastic job, we don’t need you any more. Money was withdrawn and the magazine went off the market for a time. What we really did was re-think the word “censorship.” There was a perception that censorship was something that happened “out there” and that it was something done by the communist state. But while the generals had gone in South America, the dictators had not in South Africa. So there was still the old-fashioned censorship. Ideologically, communism was no longer the great enemy. There was a huge sort of freedom of access, but suddenly economics became a problem.

JM: Like the ownership of the papers?

JVH: Precisely- those who were there to buy the papers. So you basically get the old apparatus are the only ones who’ve got the money. Or you get the mafia, or you get foreign owners. Like Bertelsmann in Germany who is now the biggest media group in Europe, or Robert Maxwell who bought a lot of papers in the Czech Republic and Beirut and indeed in Israel. So money and the ownership and the particular perspective of an owner could be a problem. We really thought that censorship was about any silence- any voice that could not break through the silence to get out. So we’ve done issues on madness, we’ve done issues on migration. We published the literature of small migrant groups and minorities in [the United Kingdom] because for them to find a publisher, for their voice to be heard, is extremely rare and difficult. We’ve done an issue on the Roma or the gypsies of Europe because they again are very much abused.

JM: So instead of just banned writing Index began to give a platform to people who would not otherwise be heard?

JVH: I think its very much that. It’s giving a voice to minorities, to groups or to people for whom access to media is denied for whatever reason. I also want to say to you that though it’s true that we had this watershed in 1991, I think 9/11/01- ten years later- I’m coming to realize personally more and more, that in a sense is another watershed. And what do I mean by that? I mean that I find freedom of expression, freedom of any kind has always had a certain relative quality. But I suppose we take as the gold-standard the First Amendment of the United States as an institution which is absolutely, categorically establishing freedom of speech and excluding interference. The next best thing to that would be Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights where the person has the right to give and to receive information free of hindrance. So if you take those as the gold-standards, then I think at the moment we’re hearing arguments that should cause concern. Yes, Article 19- BUT- and the but seems to be things like would you allow Al-Jazeera to say all these things it wants to say? Would you want to allow all these Arab-Americans to go free to write what they like in their e-mail and say what they like on their telephones? So I think to some extent- though I don’t think there’s a rigid line- I’m getting the feeling very strongly that even on the side of the angels, the free expression line, people are temporizing more. Yes, of course the First Amendment- BUT. And what it’s doing is targeting much more than before certain people under the disguise of terrorism. Things are being allowed to happen: access to e-mail, listening in on telephones, general surveillance. It has been happening with much more frequency. So I think in a way, post-9/11 is another period like post-1991 where we have to watch very carefully and guard what we have.

JM: Who reads Index on Censorship?

JVH: I’m afraid the audience is relatively old, relatively wealthy- sort of the higher catacombs. But I comfort myself by the fact that the issues which are distributed free go to Eastern Europe, and to academic institutions. In Africa, they go much more to schools, libraries, so that every copy that goes, you will have maybe ten, twenty people reading it. Obviously the language means that our audiences on the whole will be smaller. And again I comfort myself by saying, well, I wish it could be glossaries, but these are the people who will effect more, who will eventually be in teaching, in government, in universities. These are the guys, these are the women who are going to have the jobs that are influential in terms of the next generation.

JM: How do you judge the effectiveness of your magazine?

JVH: I don’t know. I think that is the most difficult thing. You can do your reader surveys- which we have done- but your reader surveys will only in the end tell you what the people who respond think. What effect this has on law and policy and the way individuals think, I truly don’t know. And I want to be honest with you, I don’t know any way we can measure that. I haven’t noticed a huge liberalization in the attitudes in our own country. I think it’s very hard to measure, and it’s a long game. I mean, you plug away and plug away and plug away.

JM: What of your work are you most proud of?

JVH: I’m not proud of myself. I love what I do. I actually think I’m quite lucky at 65 to have this to do. I love it, and I’ve been a journalist for a long time. I suppose I am most proud when I have an issue and my hand and it is good.

JM: And by good you mean?

JVH: When I have the issue in my hand and it turned out what we wanted it to be. Then I am proud, knowing that others are reading this work. And with the subscription program, it’s the people in these countries who normally Index wouldn’t reach. Does it have an effect for them? I suppose if they are reading something that they wouldn’t normally have access to, then we were effective.

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Trigger: Index on Censorship

OUTLAW - Shot in the Dark
A DROME magazine and Lomography Photo Competition

Have you ever walked down a dark ally with your beloved LC-A in hand? Have you ever seen a vandalized building and couldn’t help but to admire that urban art covering the walls? Share this rawness from the streets with us! In this collaboration with Lomography, we are looking for your best images of stencils, posters, stickers, graffiti or any other form or “illegal expression” that you can find on the streets…

The winners will receive a Staple Colorsplash camera and a feature spot in DROME magazine. One important rule: Lomography will only accept photos taken with analogue cameras. None of the following would qualify, but it was a nice excuse to take a look back.

Banksy. London, 2004

Orgasmo Roma. Rome, 2004

CCTV. Milan, 2007

Milan, 2007

 Brooklyn, 2008

Godless America. San Francisco, 2009

NYC, 2008

Freak What You Feel! Brooklyn, 2008

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Trigger: Shot in the Dark details and entry form here

This clip has such a natural tone. The slate at the beginning says they’re on take seven, but it looks spontaneous. Must be that Swedish cool.

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Trigger: Lykke Li and friends

Back in the summer of 2005, Yasutaka Kageyama and Kenji Moriuchi designed and published 1,000 copies of Letter zine. The single issue is dear to me as editor and contributor– and because the entire project came together in our small apartment on Maujer Street.

Letter introduced the work of 16 artists and writers. One was Reona Ueda, a fine artist who recently returned to Japan after seven years studying and working in New York.

Reona is currently profiled on HITSPAPER, a Tokyo-based think tank about creative fields. The write-up includes an interview and an abbreviated flip through his multidimensional portfolio.

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Trigger: HITSPAPER and Reona’s website

The 2005 documentary Inside Outside follows eight international street artists (including Swoon, Os Gemeos, and Adams & Itso) to see what makes them tick- and ticks them off.

These days I stay in a NYC neighborhood that I don’t know very well. I am visually assaulted every time I step out my front door. Soho is just about looking like you have money. All the advertisements read fuck you for thinking that you already owned everything you want and need. Fuck the poor.

Wooster Collective was named after Wooster Street. A quick look around, and it’s impossible to tell what was so inspiring. A tag scrawled on several sidewalks and construction barricades reads “Nobody Cares.” But nobody is even here. The streets are empty, and there is nothing to see here.

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Trigger: PingMag interview with director Andreas Johnsen

“After years of civil war, most Lebanese were coming to terms with their nation’s past and looking forward to a peaceful future. Director Zeina Aboul Hosn visited Beirut a week before the war began. This film is a journey through her memories of Beirut – as the bombs started falling.”

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Trigger: watch more short films at Pangea Day’s official site

Quote: “Pangea Day is a global event bringing the world together through film. Why? In a world where people are often divided by borders, difference, and conflict, it’s easy to lose sight of what we all have in common. Pangea Day seeks to overcome that – to help people see themselves in others – through the power of film.”

Back in my days of free magazines, a bad selection was forgivable. Now it costs $5-$9. I wanted something I hadn’t read before from the indie side of the rack. I hastily chose Swindle, Shepard Fairey’s pet dedicated to street art, art art, and posturing coolness.

When I flipped through it at home, I had a Jean Kilbourne moment.

The oral fixation is only slightly more original then having a themed “London Issue”. My mistake.

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Trigger: Swindle magazine

DROME magazine is pleased to announce the launch of

sideways
a smart art project

New York, March 19th 2008
9.00 p.m. - midnight

7 World Trade Center, 52nd floor, 250 Greenwich Street

smart chose DROME magazine as the only Italian magazine together with 10 other excellent cross-culture magazines from all over the world, to select the gifted artists of different ages, backgrounds and levels of fame of the sideways project, the sought-after art anthology book produced by Die Gestalten Verlag in conjunction with smart.

The recent ecology-inspired works recommended by DROME are by: Karin Andersen, Zaelia Bishop, Silvia Camporesi, casaluce-gegier, Rubens Lp, Native & ZenTwo, Christian Rainer, Sten and Fernanda Veron.

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Trigger: smart green marketing and Drome magazine

This is a story for those struggling to believe in the possibility of their dreams.

Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová fist introduced their music to the world as buskers, playing on the streets of Dublin for anyone who would listen. They made a film about their experience, and last night their song won an Academy Award.

Markéta Irglová’s acceptance speech:

“I just want to thank you so much. This is such a big deal, not only for us, but for all other independent musicians and artists that spend most of their time struggling, and this, the fact that we’re standing here tonight, the fact that we’re able to hold this, it’s just to prove no matter how far out your dreams are, it’s possible. And, you know, fair play to those who dare to dream and don’t give up. And this song was written from a perspective of hope, and hope at the end of the day connects us all, no matter how different we are. And so thank you so much, who helped us along the way. Thank you.”

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Trigger: “Falling Slowly” as featured in the film Once

Ways to celebrate: Purchase independent publications // Support organizations or journalists whose work challenges that of the corporate media // Keep discussing online and in your communities issues that the mainstream media won’t cover // Use your consumer power. Don’t give money or viewership to media that lies, misleads, or omits for the sake of a story or agenda.

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Trigger: Media Democracy Day