Thursday, 29 April 2021

World Press Freedom Day - 3rd May 2021 - free resources

Each year World Press Freedom day is celebrated on 3rd May by the United Nations
the official website provides free access to related UN resolutions
These include those relating to safety of journalists and freedom of expression

Where are journalists most at risk?
Consult the UNESCO observatory of killed journalists information on the 1450 killed since 1993

Where is the press most free?
Look at the RSF press freedom ranking for 2021
Find out why Norway is at number 1!
at number 180 is Eritrea
archives are available from 2014 onwards.
Freedom House publishes regular media freedom and freedom on the net report with rankings.

What has been the effect of the pandemic on freedom?
According to International Press Institute  COVID-19 Press Freedom Tracker, nearly 200 violations linked to the pandemic were reported from the Asia-Pacific region, of which 107 were from four South Asian countries: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal. As many as 71 journalists faced arrests and charges for their coverage of the pandemic and its consequences, and 32 cases of physical attacks and verbal threats were reported from these countries.
Few winners, many losers: the COVID-19 pandemic’s dramatic and unequal impact on independent news media- Reuters 

Tuesday, 20 April 2021

Shakespeare day 23rd April- some great free resources

23rd April is celebrated as Shakespeare day
so here are some great free resources for researchers and students


Shakespeare Documented wonderful resource from the Folger Shakespeare library bringing together hundreds manuscript and print references to Shakespeare, his works, and additional references to his family, in his lifetime and later includes imges of legal documents, reviews and some first editions


The Internet Shakespeare Editions publishes high quality materials on:Shakespeare's works His plays, life and times.

It includes texts of plays and poens, details on his career and reviews of film performances

A digital facsimile of the Bodleian First Folio

The British Library Quartos
site contains 107 copies of the 21 plays by Shakespeare printed in quarto before the 1642 theatre closures. You will find background information and details of performance, but the site excels in allowing you to compare different quartos side-by-side using high quality page images.

Discovering literature Shakespeare and Renaissance
marvellous British library study resource containing essays and other materials which set the plays in context