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Bido Lito! February 2015
Bido Lito!
Issue Fifty Two / February 2015
bidolito.co.uk
Static Gallery
23 Roscoe Lane
Liverpool
L1 9JD
Editor
Christopher Torpey - [email protected]
Editor-In-Chief / Publisher
Craig G Pennington - [email protected]
Rob Watling
LIBERTÉ, ÉGALITÉ, RESPONSABILITÉ
Editorial
Over the past few weeks since the terrible atrocities in Paris, in which the lives of seventeen people were taken, many of us have been moved by the
outpouring of sentiment shown by the millions across France who turned out in force to honour the victims who fell at the offices of Charlie Hebdo,
and in the supermarket in Porte de Vincennes. This show of solidarity was shared by the hundreds who marched through Liverpool in unity with their
French cousins, and the countless millions across the globe who showed their support via the #JesuisCharlie hashtag.
In all of the polemic that has followed these attacks, the idea of freedom of speech has been widely interrogated, and occasionally used as a shield
to excuse some particularly vile commentary. But what a surprisingly large amount of the comment has shown is a lack of understanding of what
freedom of speech actually means – its implications, limitations and obligations.
It might seem an obvious thing to point out, but our basic human rights of freedom of thought, opinion and expression are some of the strongest
pillars of our society. They allow us all to hold an opinion, no matter how much it conflicts with the next person's, and to receive and impart these
ideas. Fundamentally, this is a very powerful notion, and just because we are so used to it doesn't mean we should gloss over it or be apologetic for it.
As an independent publication which operates with the liberty afforded us by the joint freedoms of speech and expression, we have the right to
be as opinionated as we like: about any band or gig or person or, indeed, anything we bloody well want. Equally, and even as a moderately small
publication, we have to be keenly aware of the impact of those opinions. Mass media has a responsibility, because of its platform, to not just uphold
the values of free speech, but also to be truthful and, where possible, fair. Of course the media has been used to nefarious ends before, but the
democratisation of comment, especially via social media, has provided a bulwark against the spread of propagandist material. This was something
that was observed acutely during the Arab Spring.
Not all boundaries are clearly defined, though. Cartoonists – particularly satirical cartoonists – deal in exaggeration and caricature, and see the
boundaries of correctness as elastic, to be stretched. They're cruel and cutting and amusing, turning things on their head or looking at situations
in challenging, direct ways. In France, a secular country, religion is fair game for satirists, as are ALL power systems. Say what you like about Charlie
Hebdo’s editorial policy, but don’t deny that they’ve not been democratic in ridiculing the more extreme forms of the world’s religious and political
views. No one was exempt: to do otherwise would have been hypocritical. It may be shocking to us because it's not our culture, but from another
viewpoint in another set of societal circumstance it is fairly normal. This doesn’t mean that we’re forbidden from taking offence from something said
by a politician in Finland or published in a school textbook in the Philippines – far from it. But we should balance our response to any inflammatory
remarks with cultural context. Maajid Nawaz , Liberal Democrat candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn and co-founder of counter-extremism think tank
Quilliam, puts it neatly: "You have every right to be offended, you do not have the right to not be offended".
Freedom of expression is not freedom from consequence – and, indeed, murder is not an acceptable consequence for anything. We need to make
sure that the laws that govern freedom of speech are robust enough to allow us to flourish, while also punishing those who confuse mockery with
race hate, satire with defamation, preaching with inciting violence. There are no rules that govern the boundaries of taste and decency, and this is
where we, as people who want to live in a fair society, need to communicate with care. Rules are there for people, not ideas. Everyone should be
responsible for their own ideas.
Christopher Torpey / @BidoLito
Editor
Reviews Editor
Sam Turner - [email protected]
Designer
Luke Avery - [email protected]
Proofreading
Debra Williams - [email protected]
Sales And Partnerships Manager
Naters Philip - [email protected]
Digital Content Manager
Natalie Williams - [email protected]
Words
Christopher Torpey, Craig G Pennington, Richard
Lewis, A