Trouble with the Truth

In Ecuador, 2024 set off to a dramatic start, as the whole country anxiously watched masked gunmen storm a local TV station and take journalists hostage on live broadcast. This was part of a series of coordinated attacks that spread across the country like wildfire, resulting in 30 car explosions and kidnapping of seven police officers - a grim reality of an ongoing war between the local drug gangs and law enforcement. How did this once peaceful, picturesque country descent into chaos in less than a decade and why have journalists become targets? 

Isabel Ponce, a founder of the progressive Ecuadorean media outlet GK helps is to make sense of this, in the latest episode of Trouble with the Truth. She tells Lana about her outlet’s ground-breaking investigative reporting and how the death threats force her reporters into exile. Isabela reveals the roots of unrest, threats that she personally faced and what can be done on a national level to protect journalists.

In this episode of Trouble with the Truth, we pivot from our usual themes by delving into the murky world of disinformation campaigns amplified on social media platforms and the ways to combat it with a Coda Story senior reporter Isobel Cockerell. 

The rapid advancement of Big Tech over the past decade and the more recent AI revolution is irrevocably changing the way we live and think. It also creates a new reality in which line between truth and falsehood becomes blurred or altogether erased. With the wide spread of online disinformation and dangerous conspiracy theories, a journalist job is becoming tougher and more important than ever. AI generated deep fakes are becoming a prominent feature in online warfare that is increasingly used to harass and intimidate journalists. Why are Big Tech moguls failing to stop disinformation campaigns? What regulations could be put in place to aid journalists? Is AI a threat or a blessing for the future of independent reporting? Why is effective storytelling is the best way to combat disinformation? Find out in the latest episode of Trouble with the Truth. 

In this episode, Lana talks to the Financial Times correspondent Polina Ivanova about the arrest of the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges by Russian authorities, and the inspiring campaign for his release.

It has been ten months since the arrest of US citizen Evan Gershkovich, whose parents emigrated from the Soviet Union in the 1970s. Evan is being held at the notorious Lefortovo pre-trial detention centre, isolated from his loved ones and awaiting a trial date. He has been charged with espionage, a ludicrous claim denied by Evan and everyone close to him. His only ‘crime’ is writing the objective truth about Russian politics - from Covid and corruption to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While the Biden administration is negotiating a deal behind closed doors as part of a prisoner swap with Russian authorities, Evan’s friends and family are doing everything in their power to bring his release forward and keep his spirits up. Polina talks about the ‘letters to Evan’ initiative that oversees hundreds of letters written to Gershkovich by friends and strangers. She also touches upon the current conditions of her friend and whether a change in US government will make any difference to the negotiations.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion on 24 February, Ukraine has become one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. There is evidence that the Russian army has been deliberately targeting journalists who are telling the truth about the war. At least eight media workers have been killed so far, countless more kidnapped, harassed and turned into refugees overnight. Nonetheless, the bravery and determination of Ukrainian reporters has no bounds and for this episode of Trouble with the Truth Lana spoke to four of them. You will hear from an independent journalist Olga Tokariuk, Roman Stepanovich- the founder of Zaborona Media, Vera Chernysh- CEO and co-founder of Creator Media Group and Sergei Tomilenko, the president of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine.
What is happening to Ukrainian journalists in the territories occupied by Russian troops? What stories do they tell once they manage to escape? How do journalists manage to carry on their professional duty, while trying to survive and evacuate their loved ones? What can be done to preserve a free media and protect journalists in Ukraine? Find out in thia new episode of Trouble with the Truth.
These interviews were recorded prior to the release of the images of the Bucha massacre 

Donation links:

https://2402.org/ -to protect Ukrainian media workers 

https://fundrazr.com/cmg-campaign?ref=ab_7SarseQ4euF7SarseQ4euF - to support Ukrainian media

SLAPPs or Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation are lawsuits that are designed not to win in court but rather to silence, intimidate and bankrupt the defendants. Over the past years, this type of vexatious litigation has become a tool to stifle independent journalists all over the world, especially those who write about the rich and powerful. London had a reputation for being a “libel capital” for a while and the Defamation Act of 2013 did very little to change it. This new episode of Trouble with the Truth unpacks the term SLAPPs and takes a look at how defamation suits are being used to gag free media. Our guest Rebecca Vincent from Reporters without Borders talks about the case of the Guardian journalists Carole Cadwalladr who is being sued for libel by British businessman Aaron Banks. All over twenty-three words that she said at her 2019 Ted Talk. Scott Stedman, the founder of Forensic News, explains why he is being sued in the English Court by a British-Israeli citizen Walter Soriano, although the journalist never stepped foot on the British soil. Finally, Susan Coughtrie from the Foreign Policy Centre outlines the steps taken to tackle the problem of SLAPPs in the UK.

From early January of this year Kazakhstan was rocked by a wave of protests. 
  They started in Zhanaozen over fuel price hikes but soon spread all over the country. The initial demands –economic reforms and regime change –were overshadowed by looting and violence. It’s been reported that 225 people lost their lives in the bloodshed, although the real number might be higher. 
  
This new episode of Trouble with the Truth explores what happened in Kazakhstan during the protests. 

We take a look at the vast property empire of the Nazaebayev’s family and its links to the crisis.  

 Journalist Madina Alimkhanova talks about her experience reporting from the street in Almaty during the protests and the attacks she faced. 

Regional expert Erica Marat discusses the underlying causes of the unrest, the potential power struggle between the former and the current presidents and the dangers of inviting foreign troops to handle a domestic crisis. 

Journalist and activist Lukhpan Akhmedyarov, who was imprisoned during the protests, talks about the role of agent provocateurs and how the latest crisis in Kazakhstan might benefit president Putin. 

In this new episode of Trouble with the Truth, Lana talks with a journalist from Uzbekistan about the state of media freedom in the country. 

The 25 year old dictatorship of Islam Karimov was accompanied by human rights abuses and silencing of independent voices. When president Shavkat Mirziyoyev took power in 2016, it appeared that Uzbekistan was to take a new direction rooted in reform and liberalization. Many dissidents and journalists were released from imprisonment and independent media outlets were allowed to function freely. 

However, journalists still must think twice before writing about the president’s family and other tabooed topics. The new regime may not use prison and torture to intimidate journalists but other tactics, such as troll campaigns, defamations and legal threats, can be equally damaging for media workers. It is very telling that the speaker requested we alter her voice, skip video and omit any personal details.

  In this new episode of Trouble with the Truth, Lana Estemirova interviews journalist and writer Sonya Winterberg about the challenging evacuation of Afghan journalists after the Taliban takeover.  Sonya learned of the Taliban entering Kabul while she was a recording an interview for a radio show. Her first thoughts were about friends and colleagues left behind and since the middle of August, she has dedicated herself to helping Afghan journalists to flee and settle somewhere safe. Unfortunately, many were left behind and their future remain uncertain. 
  Lana and Sonya spoke about the exhausting process of getting the journalists out of danger, whether Taliban 2.0. is any different from their predecessors and what the international community can do for Afghan people. 

 In this new episode of Trouble with the Truth, Lana interviews Lebanese journalist Mohamed Kleit. They discuss the horrors that unfolded on the day of the explosion and the political and economic turnmoil that followed. Mohamed shares his own personal journey  and the struggles he faced in the aftermath of the blast. 

 On 4 August 2020, an enormous amount of ammonia nitrate that was stored in Beirut port exploded, resulting in over 200 deaths, 7000 injuries and leaving over 300 000 people homeless. The explosion set of economic shockwaves that reverberated long after the blast, coupling with the global pandemic to make the recovery incredibly challenging. One year on, victims and families are still seeking justice to no avail. The Lebanese government has failed to authorise a proper investigation with some politicians actively sabotaging the search for justice. 

 Mohamed opens-up about the PTSD that he still suffers from the day. He speaks about the difficulties of holding Lebanon’s corrupt government to account over the explosion, the economic hardships that people are facing and the difficult choices he had to make in order to tell the truth. He is currently working as a freelance video-journalists as well as being a media coordinator for the Alternative Syndicate of Press Assembly. 

This week’s episode focuses on two women who were guided by the relentless pursuit of truth and were punished for it in the most inhumane way. Natalia Estemirova was an activist and a journalist from Chechnya who investigated and documented human rights abuses in the region. Daphne Caruana Galizia exposed corruption in Malta, naming and shaming powerful individuals. Their children Lana Estemirova and Matthew Caruana Galizia talk about their mothers and the search for justice in the aftermath of their murders. They discuss the latest developments in their mothers’ cases, (including the recent decision of the ECHR regarding Natalia), what led them to their own path of activism and what they do to ensure the memory of their loved ones lives on.