Category Archives: Freedom

Statement by the Council of Europes Committee of experts on media environment and reform (MSI-REF)

The evolving coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is causing a public health emergency. In this time of great public concern, it is of particular importance for member states to recognise the crucial role of independent media.

Now, more than ever, we need reliable journalism, resting on the standards of professional ethics, to keep the public informed and to scrutinise the measures taken in response to the global health threat. We need accurate information, including in-depth research by science journalists, to counter rumours and disinformation that could lead to panic. This can be facilitated by creating forums for dialogue among governments and media stakeholders.

In line with the Council of Europe Guidelines on protecting freedom of expression and information in times of crisis, the crisis situation should not be used as a pretext for restricting the public's access to information. Neither should states introduce any restrictions on media freedom beyond the limitations allowed by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Member states, together with all media stakeholders, should strive to ensure a favourable environment for quality journalism, in line with the standards set out by the upcoming Council of Europe Recommendation. In these circumstances, special attention should be given to ensuring appropriate working conditions for journalists, including medical protection for any work-related coronavirus risks.

Freedom of expression, media independence and open deliberation, rather than information control, are the core principles underlying European democracy which will allow us to surmount the great challenges facing our countries.

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Freedom of expression and information in times of crisis - Council of Europe

At the time, I didnt realise how important this place was to the people. I do now. It was terribly important because it was part of their identity. This was the place they could be themselves and nobody could tell them what to do, reflects photographer Chris Killip, on the young people who found sanctuary, and strength, within Gatesheads music venue, The Station.

All shot in black and white, The Station a book and exhibition which was scheduled to open at Martin Parrs Foundation at Paintworks Bristol BS4this week, but willbe rescheduledtothe summer is a tribute to time and togetherness. The project was completed between March and October in 1985, but its catalyst for publication came more recently when Killips son rediscovered some of his fathers earlier punk images. Most are unseen, having remained in storage until now.

It was euphoric in there Chris Killip

With nothing but a bag of film, a camera that was good to go, some cigarettes I smoked then, he recalls and a very powerful flash, Killip would show up at The Station every Saturday night. The first time I turned up unannounced and uninvited. It was euphoric in there, he says. Id been photographing at nightlife venues around Newcastle, but The Station was different. It was isolated, an ex-social club turned nondescript building far removed from anything else. This was great for the people who went there because noise immediately didnt matter. Theyd painted everything black ceilings, walls, furniture so it was a kind of strange, dark space. It was a proper corporation, ran by the people for its people.

1980s Newcastle lived under the shadow of Thatchers rule and was the perfect storm for a youthquake one that burnt with endurance and refused to be mitigated by oppressive moral codes. There were a lot of problems in the north, especially in the north east, says Killip of the place he lived for 15 years. These kids were politically active and going to demos. We rarely spoke at The Station though. I just took their picture, but Id seen some of them gathering at the miners protests and theyd seen me photographing there, he explains.

These little glimpses into the dark hours where subcultures felt free from the systemic structures working to suffocate them, led to a series of images forming the basis of The Station: In the 80s, there were a lot of unemployed youth without qualifications in Newcastle. These kids were smart and politically-minded, but they were high and dry, too. Thats why the venue meant so much. They painted it, they produced it, they identified with it. Their music, their people in their space.

Among the deafening punk music and pitch black room lit by only a single strobe, Killip worked independently talking to no one really and then just leaving, often feeling exhausted. Killip recalls the process: It was a challenging environment from a photographic perspective because you couldnt really see anything, he laughs. There was a single-stage light, so I used that and a powerful flash to guess how far away the subject was. There wasnt any interaction between me and the people though.

Although this approach feels far from collaborative, the images centre on community and collectivity: Everything was thought about. Their hairstyles and outfits were meticulous. They had one outfit for most nights, this made it hard for me because it looks like the images are repetitive, like theyve been taken in one night, but they havent. When these kids had established their look, theyd keep it because they didnt have much money and also they didnt want anyone else to steal it. They were all like paintings really.

Concentrate on the images though, and Killip says youll spot slight nuances, differentiators of one night to the next. Theres a sequence of a guy in the book and hes repeated four times over. Its like a cinematic thing, like four stills from a film but its from three different nights. His outfit is exactly the same but if you look closely, youll see subtle differences in his hairstyle.

In a world where community is becoming increasingly difficult to keep close, Killips photographs are a reminderof the importance of the unique powers of people and place andThe Station embodies that.

The Station by Chris Killip is published bySteidl. The project will be exhibited at the Martin Parr Foundation.Due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation, the exhibition will beextended into summer 2020 date currently TBC. Please checkwww.martinparrfoundation.orgfor updates

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Chris Killips photos capture the freedom of punk in 80s north east England - Dazed

At the heart of freedom is the ability to act, or refrain from acting, out of choice, rather than compulsion. It is this notion of liberty that has seemed to be at the heart of the UK governments approach to the pandemic, trying to keep our ability to spend, to move, and to meet as near to normality as possible, for as long as possible. The original requests put to people were trifling impositions, nothing more drastic than asking most to wash their hands more frequently and more thoroughly, and for the most vulnerable to self-isolate. As the cities of Milan and Madrid were confined to quarters, a rising sense of emergency tangible, Britain was an outlier, as the people were instead left incongruously celebrating a birthday every time they washed their hands.

This laissez-faire approach was likely motivated by the idea that people have an inherent sense of responsibility and solidarity. Perhaps the government thought that if people were not forced into submission, but educated into acquiescence, the escalating nature of the measures required would be accepted- and obeyed- in good humour. Compulsion breeds resentment, while persuasion creates understanding.

This philosophy was put to its first test this weekend, and it crashed and burned in catastrophic fashion. In the face of instructions to isolate, to leave homes only if truly necessary and to stay two metres away from others at all times, much of the country took advantage of the sunshine to descend like ants upon the UKs honeypot sites, Snowdonia seeing its busiest day in living memory.

Some of this was nearly certainly due to the flawed messaging of the government. Even on Saturday, the prime minister was unable to stick to the simple message of not to visit elderly mothers or grandmothers, suggesting that he might drop in to visit his own mother, if time permitted. However, accepting that this government has been sub par in dealing with this crisis does not alone excuse the masses congregating in parks and shops. The government advice was confused- but it wasnt thatconfused. This raises the question of why people have been so resistant to the governments advice. Is it, as Matt Hancock said on Monday, as simple as people being selfish?

When people are asked to depart from the norm, they need to override their base instincts, their usual guide for what to do and how to behave. The thought of leaving the house, ordinarily, is no thought at all. It is instinctive. You want to leave the house? You leave the house. To override this intuitive action requires people to govern their instincts, to check their compulsions. This is the reciprocal part of the freedom that the government has maintained- as Walter Lippman wrote, we are free if we have the faculty of knowing what we ought to do, and the will to do it.

Many people would like think they fulfil that dictum, that they are the masters of their instincts. Such thought is not without merit we are not animals, but creatures endowed with reason, with the capacity to see the long-term and act for the greater good. This must have been the hope of the government, relying on its message sublimating its way into the public consciousness. Rather than bring down the heavy boot of the law, they sought to appeal to peoples reason and emotion, the former by explaining the exponential spread of just one person with the virus, and the latter by showing the effect on the NHS, with doctors pleading with people to not go out and to help ease the burden on the NHS.

This weekend would suggest people are not the paragons of reason they may consider themselves to be. Instead, at every turn, many chose the easy route, opting for instinct over reason. They chose to go out the door. They chose to add their number to the crowd. They chose to accept the risk. Except it wasnt just a risk for them, but for every person they might have infected, both in that crowd and beyond it, whether it be a shop-worker or a doctor they pass in the street. This is not just because people are selfish, although it would be naive to dismiss this is a factor. The issue is more nuanced than that.

In part, the nature of the threat will have played a part. For the majority of the population, the virus is invisible, both literally and metaphorically. They havent seen or heard of anyone affected by it, and think the governments rhetoric is exaggerated. Unlike other moments of national crisis, like the Blitz, there is no physical evidence of the damage to point to, no fallen monuments as simple metaphor for the danger posed.

Some may point to Iran, or China, or Italy as evidence of the devastation that the virus can wreak, but this ignores the elephant in the room. People dont consider such evidence because they dont know about such evidence. The overwhelming majority of people have little interest in politics in this country, let alone the events of far-flung nations; while much of the minority, hearing about hospitals struggling in China, or Iran, will disregard it as something that happens to other countries, assuming that the might of the NHS will see us through something as anodyne the flu.

At other times in our history, such ignorance may have been mitigated by the presence of a figure held in universal respect, a journalist or politician able to guide the nation. In 1950s America, it was Walter Cronkite, an admired broadcaster, who was able to unveil the desolation that was the war in Vietnam, changing the mood of a nation and the course of the war. Our body politick is now too divided for that, too riven by the years of hostility and tribalism for there to be anyone in the public sphere, short of the Queen, who can persuade a doubting nation that the risks they face are real. And the government doesnt want to wheel Her Majesty out until the nation is truly in dire straits crossing its fingers that by that stage, it wont be too late.

It is such division that has also blunted peoples reasoning faculties. The governments constant refrain for years has been the need for belief, to believe that Britain is great, that trade barriers can be willed away, that there is an capacious market desperate for British goods. Having told the people for years that belief is everything, inculcating a sense of invulnerability in people, telling them to ignore the experts and their data, the government can hardly be surprised when people take them at their word. If you insist on telling the people they dont need to use reason for topic A, you shouldnt be surprised when they dont use reason for topic B either, and instead act on faith alone.

This resistance to authority is not unique to Britain. In France, Parisians needed harsher measures before they began to toe the line, and it is likely that in London, we will need them too. But, more broadly, what such callous disregard for public health shows us is the fraying of any concept of the public good, of the loss of faith in government and our public institutions. It is another example of how western democracies have become tarnished, with the government that is now trying to preserve the values of liberty and fraternity filled with individuals who have spent the past years besieging such values, undermining them in pursuit of their own ideological desires.

After this pandemic is over, society will not be the same. We can but hope that this is the antidote to populism that we need, with governments like Johnsons chastened, and politicians like Trump kicked out of the public square. With luck, we will be able to look back on it with a sense of regret and loss, but also gratitude, if it enables us to refashion society, creating a society that is more equal and more just, that is no longer guided by faction and rancour, but that has public integrity as its lodestar once more.

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Freedom, reason and Covid-19 - thejusticegap.com

THE Isle of Wight's MP has asked for changes to ensure that nurses can be given more freedom to administer certain drugs, in the event of a shortage of medical supplies.

Speaking in a parliamentary debate on the coronavirus bill, and citing an Isle of Wight consultant, Bob Seely asked the Health Minister Matt Hancock if the government's coronavirus bill will allow more freedom for care-givers in hospices.

Mr Seely said: Nurses can give out morphinebut, due to a quirk in the rules, cant give similar powerful opiate painkillers.

"Will the bill enable nurses to give controlled drugs...specifically in case medical supplies run short, but also because we are reliant on ferries and it gives us slightly more diversity in patient treatment?"

Mr Hancock said: "I will look into the specific point. There are parts of the bill that tackle the problem he describes, if it's appropriate to do so, but I think it's better if I get some medical advice and get back to him."

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Allow hospice nurses more drugs freedom, we're reliant on ferries says Isle of Wight MP - Isle of Wight County Press

At every refugee camp in the neighbouring country; at every training camp where valiant youth of the nation, farmers, day labourers, and able men and women learned warfare in the spirit to free their native land; at every liberated zone of Bangladesh there were travelling musical troupes singing songs of freedom and victory.

Posters and placards were printed to present before the rebels in an effort to further inspire them to carry on their struggle of freeing their motherland.

Much has been written and spoken about slogans of those times. The rebellious cry, Joi Bangla, still stirs the same emotion to the millennials as it did to the baby boomers who fought for the liberation of Bangladesh.

Slogans are a catch phrase, and many take the form of placards, and posters, which is primarily a placard for public display with slogans and designs combined.

Before the war, placards were particularly popular. They could be written on large pieces of paper, glued on a light piece of wood or 'chatai' and were carried to processions and meetings. Their purpose was simple but decisive. They augmented the slogans that were chanted and added visuals to gatherings where demands were being made.

It was a time when printing technology was not developed and given that they were considerably expensive, placards were more common in our socio-political scene than posters. They lacked designs but the lyrical words that they more often than not featured, inspired thousands.

After the Mujibnagar Government was formed in exile, it became important for the administration to hand down information regarding the war to the people who were actively taking part in it.

Across the globe, the cause for Bangladesh had garnered tremendous support, and it was imperative that updates were sent to these kind souls who were fighting a war in a different frontier, one where the battle lines were drawn by ideology and the means to fight were civil support and not military.

The Mujibnagar Government took it upon themselves to print posters for the local soldiers, and for an international audience which, in light of a media blackout by the Yahya regime, could narrate the poignant tale of the struggle for freedom of Bangladesh.

In retrospect, one can scrutinise posters of our liberation movement into many categories.

The speech of 7th March gave many directions to the Bengali people, and these words by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was one of the most iconic posters that came out

Ebarer Shongram/Shwadhinatar Shangram/Rakta Jakhan Diyechi/Aro Rakto Dibo/Ghorey/Ghorey Durga/Gorey Tulo.

Done in a vivid colour scheme of black and red, over a white background, although seemingly more of a placard than a poster, it did create a visual effect where red was the colour of glory and victory; black of mourning, and white of peace. One must break it down to realise that, at times of war, is necessary for peace but a loss of life is always to be mourned.

Another poster of an iconic nature was one that asked every Bengali, and perhaps people across the globe, to boycott Pakistani products.

The poster read

Bangladesher shompod bridhdhi korun/Pakistani Ponno Borjon Korun.

The 1971 liberation war was a struggle of the masses where every individual made contributions. It was thus deemed important to appeal to the people to reject Pakistani products, which in turn, would benefit the future economy once the country had emerged victorious.

Similar posters also read, simply Bangladesh needs your help.

And then, there was September on Jessore Road, Allen Ginsberg's famous poetry; the four lines of which made perhaps the most touching poster during the entire war.

Millions of babies in pain/millions of mothers in the rain/millions of brothers in woe/millions of children no where to go.

And the world did respond to the anguish of the Bengali people. Bengalis, and civil society across the globe protested the atrocities and pleading for immediate action from their respective governments. And many administrations, even in those early days, extended their arms in assistance.

The struggle of 1971 was that of the people of East Pakistan. It had no discrimination, we were all united under one banner, to stand against oppression. Since those tumultuous days of March 1971 till this day, the posters of 1971 have played an important role to define the goals set before us.

Today, they remind us of a time when people stood against tyranny and emerged victorious.

Images collected from the Liberation War Museum

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Posters of 1971 A guide to freedom - The Daily Star

As New Zealand enters a lockdown, all essential goods required to ride it out will come on the back of a truck, says Road Transport Forum chief executive Nick Leggett.

"It's imperative that both central and local government are clear on the definition of essential services so that trucks can stay on the road delivering much needed supplies at this critical time.

"To do that, trucks will require both freedom of movement and access to providers of all the services that keep them on the road, such as, tyres, fuel, and parts.

"Truck drivers and those who support them will be working through an unprecedented environment and there needs to be clarity around the rules that will govern them.

"As we rapidly gear up for these major changes to our way of life, for an unknown period of time, we believe good crisis management would involve collaboration so that all of this can be sorted at the start, instead of trial and error with incremental changes being required.

"People are managing a lot of stress and at such times, clear rules, processes and communication are vital. We cant have trucks getting stuck at literal road blocks if they are carrying supplies that could make the difference between life and death.

"Trucks will be carrying both domestic and export goods and at this time where the Government is bleeding money, keeping our export routes clear is more important than ever. Wine, meat and kiwifruit seasons are in full swing.

"We also need to be sure the Government is planning for safety in the supply chain as we go into the pandemic level 4. In Australia, the police have been engaged in providing assurance to the transport industry through security.

"The road freight industry is reminding central and local government of the importance of freight that starts with a truck, but involves a complex web of support services down to somewhere for drivers to safely stop and rest.

"We will be talking to Government throughout this pandemic to ensure road freight has the support required so that people dont have to stress about having vital supplies as they go into lockdown."

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Trucks need freedom of movement throughout NZ - The Bay's News First - SunLive

My life thus far has brought me many gifts, including good health, a fantastic wife, three incredible kids and a successful business that I got to start and grow with one of my best friends. Yet one of the greatest gifts provided to me is my willingness to be open to opportunities. Fortunately, I believe everyone can develop this skill.

To start, you need a world view that opportunities are everywhere. If you believe that, you need to embrace exploring opportunities. And finally, you must develop the senses to see and judge those opportunities that are worth going after.

Often, these will be incremental opportunities to improve yourself or your company. Over time, however, they may become more profound, and perhaps even life changing. Find time to leave your comfort zone and observe and listen. Youth is always testing and exploring, so stay young and see whats out there.

The best part about seeing opportunities everywhere is that if one doesnt work out, just look around again.

Harvey Nelson is co-founder at Main Street Gourmet

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Give yourself the freedom to look for opportunity around every corner - Smart Business Network

The Trump administration recentlypublished new rulesthat will benefit the U.S. firearms industry and gun owners. This all had to do with broad-based export-control reforms, and the process for this was begun during the Obama administration. At the time, other industry sectors involved in this process benefitted from reforms, as their oversight for exporting goods was moved from the U.S. Department of State to the import-export specialists at the U.S. Department of Commerce, but the Obama administration decided to exclude Americas firearms and ammunition industry for political reasons.

They didnt care that this was a problem that harmed small American businesses, such as gunsmiths. With the State Department regulating these businesses, the federal government told gunsmiths they had to pay an annual $2,250 fee to comply with the Arms Export Control Act. This act requires any business that manufactures, exports or imports a firearm (as its considered to be a defense article) to register with the government and pay $2,250 every year. Obamas State Department extended the definition of manufacturing to include many common upgrades or modifications to existing firearms, thus reaching gunsmiths who did not export their work.

Meanwhile, with the State Department in charge, gun and ammunition manufacturers also had to get congressional approval for all foreign orders over $1 million. This congressional review was sometimes held up by anti-gun Democrats in the U.S. Senate who like to punish gun companies for being gun companies.

The Trump administration has fixed this. These changes, however, wont end oversight of firearm and ammunition exports, as the U.S. Department of Commerce already consults with the State Department on defense-related export approvals. The new regulations became effective March 9, 2020.

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The Trump Administration Just Did This - America's 1st Freedom

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

The debate in the United States over whether to move away from free markets and toward socialism may change dramatically as the latest coronavirus spreads throughout the world. Thats because in the fight against the global pandemic, well likely witness one of the most compelling arguments in our lifetimes emerge in favor of free-market systems and lives will be saved in the process.

The pandemic will demonstrate that nations with the freest markets and freest people tend to have the health care systems with the greatest capacity to handle such a crisis. Free-market incentives have produced health care systems that have better capacities in terms of beds, equipment and medical personnel to handle increased caseloads. Those incentives have also spurred innovations that have led to some of the greatest medical advances in history.

Moreover, nations with both private-sector companies that are financially incentivized to work quickly for a cure and governments willing to remove regulatory obstacles to innovation are more likely to develop the treatments to abate the disease or possibly even find a cure.

Countries with freer markets also tend to be more resilient in times of crisis and more capable of handling external shocks. Thanks to their free-market incentives, as well as the flexibility to respond to changing conditions that comes with less government central planning, they have the widest availability of food, medicine and other crucial necessities.

This is not conjecture. The Heritage Foundations annual Index of Economic Freedom, the latest edition of which was released just days ago, provides the indisputable data showing that citizens who live in nations with greater economic freedom have better health outcomes overall.

Economic freedom is represented by a variety of factors such as smaller, less intrusive government; lower taxes; reduced regulations on people and businesses; an environment that makes it easier for average citizens to start or operate a business; and the protection of private property rights, including protections like patents for new innovations.

The index has measured economic freedom in approximately 180 countries around the world for the last 26 years and shows that greater economic freedom has decreased poverty, created more prosperous economies, and increased positive health outcomes and life expectancies across the globe. Greater economic freedom has led to better health care systems, better education systems, a greater abundance of food, cleaner environments and a higher quality of life for citizens.

Recently, Heritage Foundation researchers put the Index of Economic Freedom side-by-side with the Johns Hopkins Global Health Security Index, which measures countries capabilities to prevent, detect and respond to infectious disease threats. Not surprisingly, they found a high correlation between economic freedom and health security.

Countries that Heritage ranked as free or mostly free in the economic freedom index also tended to score the highest on the health security index, while countries ranked as mostly unfree or repressed tended to score the lowest, indicating a poor ability to respond to infectious diseases.

In the coming months, we will be watching how countries across the economic freedom spectrum respond to the coronavirus pandemic. I have little doubt that well see its the worlds freest nations that will do the best job of finding treatments and possibly a cure. Ultimately, their medical advances will be shared with all nations and used to save lives around the world.

That isnt gloating; that is a sincere hope that such a critical demonstration of the power of economic freedom will encourage every nation to adopt more free-market approaches so that their citizens dont just overcome this pandemic, but go on to live longer, healthier and more prosperous lives.

Its also my hope that some in our own government learn these lessons as well and dont use this crisis as an opportunity to erode our personal and economic freedoms and push for spending free-for-alls. Any legislation to address the crisis must be targeted to the people who actually need it, temporary for only as long as the crisis lasts, and transparent - directed at fighting the coronavirus and aiding public health, not aiding special interests.

That is how we will emerge from this pandemic stronger than we were before.

Kay C. James is president of The Heritage Foundation (heritage.org).

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Why economic freedom is critical to beating the coronavirus pandemic - The Washington TImes

The Council of Europe has called upon member states to recognise the crucial role of independent media during the Coronavirus pandemic, and not to use it as a pretext for restricting the publics access to information.

In a statement published on Friday, the CoE Committee of experts of media environment and reform (MSI-REF) said that states should also refrain from introducing any restrictions on media freedom, beyond the limitations allowed by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Now, more than ever, we need reliable journalism, resting on the standards of professional ethics, to keep the public informed and to scrutinise the measures taken in response to the global health threat. We need accurate information, including in-depth research by science journalists, to counter rumours and disinformation that could lead to panic. This can be facilitated by creating forums for dialogue among governments and media stakeholders, the CoE said.

Member states and media stakeholders should strive to ensure adequate working conditions for journalists including medical protection for those working on the front line.

The statement highlighted the importance of giving media access to information, noting it is a core principle of democracy

Freedom of expression, media independence and open deliberation, rather than information control, are the core principles underlying European democracy which will allow us to surmount the great challenges facing our countries.

Accurate information, adherence to professional ethics, and the freedom to scrutinise measures taken in response to the global health threat are important during these times said the Committee. Dialogue between governments and the media is essential in countering rumours and disinformation that could lead to panic.

The CoE Committee also made reference to the Guidelines on protecting freedom of expression and information in times of crisis.

These guidelines include allowing freedom of movement and access to information for media professionals in times of crisis, providing press conferences and briefings to the media, and criminal or administrative liability for public officials found to be guilty of manipulating public opinion through exploiting the vulnerability of the crisis.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Edi Rama shared a clip of Algerian police beating people in the streets. He claimed it was the Spanish authorities attempting to keep people off the streets during the Coronavirus. Rama threatened to order the Albanian police and army to act in a similar way when dealing with people who break the government-imposed curfew.

While the media was quick to debunk his post as fake news, the post had already caused significant alarm and panic on social media and within Albanias ex-pat and foreign community.

Fjal kye: Albania, coronavirus, Council of Europe, Edi Rama, media freedom

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CoE Calls for Protection of Media Freedom and Liabilities for Politicians that Exploit Coronavirus Crisis - Exit - Explain Albania