The survival of journalism is fraught with danger and being squeezed from all directions, says Index on Censorship’s editor Rachael Jolley

London, UK. Well researched journalism is more important than ever. Around the world there are squeezes on press freedom from all directions, and with the rise of what has been dubbed “fake-news”, it is a time for thorough journalism, says Rachael Jolley, editor of the Index on Censorship Magazine, on the publication of a special report called “The Big Squeeze: Freedom of Speech Under Pressure”.

Included in the latest issue of the magazine is a special focus on Poland, where magazine editor Wojciech Przybylski discusses the governments continuing efforts to stifle and control news in the country:

“Along with public TV, public radio statutes have been changed to enable the takeover by government supporters of executive boards, in direct violation of the role of the bi-partisan committee that previously supervised the quality of public broadcasting. Many journalists who are not supportive of the government have been fired and the remaining ones are under threat of being fired.”

In Turkey, Canan Coşkun, a journalist at daily newspaper Cumhuriyet, who faces two upcoming trials for her reporting, talks about the dangers of life as a reporter. “Every two to three weeks recently, I have seen off a colleague leaving the courthouse for prison”, she describes.

And the magazine includes two reports from Mexico on threats to journalists lives, and the fear involved in doing their jobs.

In these turbulent times, Jolley says “journalists and journalism needs to step up and do a really excellent, through job of discovering and publishing the news”, while also calling for the public to take responsibility in supporting well researched and thorough journalism. “We need to be capable of a bit more dissection and skepticism when we see stories, rather than swallowing them whole without thinking”, she explains.

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For a PDF copy of the latest issue of the Index on Censorship Magazine “The Big Squeeze: Freedom of Speech Under Pressure” please contact Mollie Broad (mollie.broad@sagepub.co.uk) or Tiffany Medina (tiffany.medina@sagepub.com).

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Sara Miller McCune founded SAGE Publishing in 1965 to support the dissemination of usable knowledge and educate a global community. SAGE is a leading international provider of innovative, high-quality content publishing more than 1,000 journals and over 800 new books each year, spanning a wide range of subject areas. A growing selection of library products includes archives, data, case studies and video. SAGE remains majority owned by our founder and after her lifetime will become owned by a charitable trust that secures the company’s continued independence. Principal offices are located in Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Washington DC and Melbourne. www.sagepublishing.com

Index on Censorship launched in 1972, has reporters around the world. International in outlook, outspoken in comment, and publishing some of the world’s finest writers, Index exposes stories that are suppressed, publishes banned writing, investigative journalism and new fiction. Previous contributors include Margaret Atwood, Noam Chomsky, Nadine Gordimer, Aung San Suu Kyi, Salman Rushdie, Tom Stoppard and Ai Weiwei. www.indexoncensorship.org