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Episode details

World Service,08 Apr 2020,26 mins

SeriesThe Future of Free Speech

Journalists: Free speech v personal safety

The Compass

Available for over a year

Robin talks to fellow journalists around the world who have to walk the fine line between an espousal of free speech rights and their own safety. Is there reason to be optimistic about the future? He travels to Paris to the former office of Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine which saw many of its cartoonists and journalist murdered by jihadist gunmen. He meets the editor of the magazine which is currently forced to operate from a secret location for security reasons. On the streets of Hong Kong he joins journalists working for small online publications, reporting from the front line of the clashes between protesters and police in an environment where the larger press organisations are increasingly believed to be under the influence of Beijing. (Photo: Man sits in a cafe reading Charlie Hebdo, a satirical French magazine. Credit: Reuters)

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