Forbidden Stories or how is a network of journalists around the globe keeping freedom of reporting safe
During the 2024 International Journalism Festival in Perugia, freedom of the press was the main speaker throughout the week’s conferences. Expectations were raised and solutions were discussed, but what is done right now for threatened journalists ? The global collective Forbidden Stories presented their commendable mission
By Emmanuel Miculita
Being able to inform others is a global problem listed every year by RSF (Reporters without Borders) in their latest World Press Freedom Index. One of the most essential points to learn from this ranking is the growing repression against journalists from political authorities around the world.
Freedom of the press was a central theme during the festival I had the chance to cover and attend with my classmates in April, in Perugia, Italy. In a picturesque decor, inspiring speakers like Nobel Peace Prize recipients Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov (via video) expressed their hopes for reporting in countries where press is not welcomed.
What united these two speakers and many others, was a non-profit organization made by journalists aiming at continuing silenced investigations : Forbidden Stories.
Founded in 2017 by Laurent Richard, the birth of the platform happened after a real wake-up call.
Before launching the NGO, Richard co-founded France’s most famous investigative TV program : Cash Investigation. Based in Paris and working in the same building as the ill-fated Charlie Hebdo office, Richard felt heavily the loss of journalists he saw daily. He adds in his biography : “I saw these journalists every day, and suddenly, with other colleagues at Premières Lignes [his production company], I tried to help those who were still alive. The massacre made me more aware than ever of the fragility of a free press.”
Then, he had the idea to “create an international platform devoted to publishing the work of journalists who have been killed, jailed or threatened”. Today, this platform has completed and published more than 20 stories from all over the globe that couldn’t be finished by the journalists who initiated them.
Published as written articles and other formats, these stories are helping us, the public, understand complex situations in India, Ghana or Mexico. But most importantly, the published stories are contributing to honor the deaths or silenced voices that originally started reporting.
The Baku connection
The festival was the perfect occasion for Laurent Richard to present one of their last stories from Azerbaijan. Last November, journalists from the last independent Azeri news outlet called Abzas Media were arrested. Some of them are certainly still in prison today.
Their investigations denounced heavily the authoritarian regime led by Ilham Aliyev that has been in power for the last two decades. Azerbaijan is deeply connected to Putin’s Russia and is still disputing territories with Armenia in a long-lasting war.
15 media organizations came together and put 40 journalists working on three fronts of the original investigation.. France 24, Der Standard and The Guardian are few examples of outlets that partnered to do it.
The Abzas Media reporters were threatened by the regime before being silenced, especially on these 3 following investigations.
The first story digs deeper into the gold mining business in western Azerbaijan. This industry is a real asset to the Azeri economy and therefore important in the eyes of the authorities. Reporting on dissenters’ claims ruffled too many feathers.
This story is even more significant worldwide because the gold extracted from these mines can be found in the batteries of our phones, cars and computers.
The workers and neighbors of the gold mining sites are exposed to the consequences of toxic extracting techniques. Contaminations and collateral diseases have been observed within the neighboring communities, in direct link with the gold mining lakes.
In reaction, villagers started protesting and they were violently repressed. Journalists from Abzas Media were arrested for documenting the protests.
The Forbidden Stories consortium also helped another investigation to go further. The Azeri journalists started to report on the tortures committed in Azerbaijan’s prisons. The investigative network especially helped find that the Council of Europe directly funded these prisons.
Finally, the last story covered by the network was examining how the elections were falsified despite the presence of international observers. As a reminder, the president was re-elected last February with 92% of the votes. His reign is long-lasting, starting 21st years ago.
These examples are proving how the Azeri regime is threatening the lives of journalists. Led by the president Aliyev, human rights and press freedom are highly repressed. Last year, Azerbaijan was ranked 151 of 180 on the RSF Media Freedom Index. This goes to say how hard it is for journalists to do their jobs in the country.
Why this initiative is vital right now
During the festival, many examples of cross-border investigations were shown. And their existence is inspiring. Of course more press freedom is needed, guaranteed by the real safeguards in these countries. But this kind of collaboration is essential in places where truth is not welcome.
Laurent Richard stressed on the importance of collaboration on a global level. But all of these stories started at a local level. “Sometimes, they think the stories are far away from the audience,” said Richard, talking about the silenced journalists who doubt publishing on a global platform.
But their stories and their reporting are proof of their resilience.
Collaboration between different media outlets always existed, but doing it for fallen or silenced journalists is remarkable. By protecting journalists, pursuing and publishing their work, the Forbidden Stories network is filling an enormous gap in many countries around the world. A much needed platform in these troubled times for press freedom.
