Index On Censorship - The Magazine

The Magazine

The Index on Censorship magazine was first published in 1972. It supports free expression, publishing distinguished writers from around the world, exposing suppressed stories, initiating debate, and providing an international record of censorship. The quarterly editions of the magazine usually focus on a country or region or a recurring theme in the global free expression debate. Index on Censorship also publishes short works of fiction and poetry by notable new writers. Index Index, a round-up of abuses of freedom of expression worldwide, was published in the magazine until December 2008, when it was transferred to the website.

The original inspiration to create Index came from prominent Soviet dissidents (see Founding History, below), but from its outset, the magazine covered censorship in right-wing dictatorships then ruling Greece and Portugal, the former military regimes of Latin America, and the former Soviet Union and its satellites. The magazine has covered other challenges facing free expression, including religious extremism, the rise of nationalism, and Internet censorship.

In the first issue of May 1972 Stephen Spender wrote:

“Obviously there is the risk of a magazine of this kind becoming a bulletin of frustration. However, the material by writers which is censored in Eastern Europe, Greece, South Africa and other countries is among the most exciting that is being written today. Moreover, the question of censorship has become a matter of impassioned debate; and it is one which does not only concern totalitarian societies.”

Accordingly the magazine has sought to shed light on other challenges facing free expression, including religious extremism, the rise of nationalism, and internet censorship. Issues are usually organised by theme, and contain a country-by-country list of recent cases involving censorship, restrictions on freedom of the press and other free speech violations. Occasionally, Index on Censorship publishes short works of fiction and poetry by notable new writers as well as censored ones.

Over the years, Index on Censorship has presented works by some of the world's most distinguished writers and thinkers, including Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Milan Kundera, Václav Havel, Nadine Gordimer, Salman Rushdie, Doris Lessing, Arthur Miller, Noam Chomsky, and Umberto Eco.

Recent issues under the editorship of Jo Glanville have covered obscenity, the legacy of the second Bush presidency and a look back at The Satanic Verses controversy 20 years on. There have been special issues on China, reporting from the Middle East, and on internet censorship. The Russia issue (January 2008) won an Amnesty International Media Award 2008 for features by Russian journalists Fatima Tlisova and Sergei Bachinin, and Russian free speech campaigner Alexei Simonov.

Between 2005 and 2009, the magazine was published and distributed by Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis group. Since January 2010 it has been published by Sage Publications, an independent for-profit academic publisher.

In addition to print and annual subscriptions, Index on Censorship is available as an application for the iPhone/iPad.

It is also a partner with Eurozine, a network of more than 60 European cultural journals.