World Press Freedom Day

On 3 May every year, the international community commemorates the World Press Freedom Day, which was established by the United Nations in 1993, to highlight the importance of freedom of information as a public good and as a democratic mechanism. The day sheds light on people and media outlets that are targets of restraints, as well as pushing for more internet transparency, and honest and accurate news reporting.

The theme of this year’s World Press Freedom Day is ‘Information as a Public Good’ focussing on the importance of verified and reliable information. “It calls attention to the essential role of free and professional journalists in producing and disseminating this information, by tackling misinformation and other harmful content", said Audrey Azoulay, the Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion.

World Press Freedom Day is also a day of remembrance for those journalists who have lost their lives in the pursuit of a story. Never in recorded history has it been so dangerous to be a journalist. Over the past decade 1,000 journalists have been killed, either being murdered or while working in the field. The COVID-19 virus has also taken its toll on media professionals and in India alone, over 100 journalists have died after being exposed to the virus while carrying out their jobs.

Recently India has dropped two points in the World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) between 2019 and 2020, currently ranking 142 out of 180 countries. This is a further drop since the 133 positioning five years ago, in 2016. 

At TISB we celebrate and encourage free media and expression among our students. This is mainly done through supporting student-led publications and media channels, by encouraging contributions from students and sharing their publications and content.

The Inquisitor

The Inquisitor is the TISB Senior School student-led paper that is also an After School Club. Club members and students write stories, reports and reviews, take photographs and publish games for their readers. Each issue of the paper is published online. Recently The Inquisitor handed over the responsibility of the club and the publication to Chief Editors Nishka from Grade 11 and Siya from Grade 9, and Head of Tech Raghav from Grade 11. To increase the reach of the paper to the whole of the TISB community, The Inquisitor is moving online. Keep an eye on developments on The Inquisitor’s website.

PY Pages

As part of this year’s PY Book Week, a student-led news channel called PY Pages was started to encourage reading and creative writing among students. Grade 5 student, Samya and an editorial team consisting of Grade 5 Prefects launched the first edition of the paper on 5 March 2021. The idea behind the PY Pages is to create a space for PY students to express themselves, as well as provide information about the happenings at the school, artwork and comics, a podcast, and recommendations and reviews. The paper is open to anyone in PY who would like to contribute. Find the PY Pages online and read all the published content and how to contribute.

Mind Matters Magazine

Mind Matters Magazine is a student-led publication that aims to educate readers on topics related to cognitive sciences in an easily and understandable way. The organisers seek to explore a specific theme with every volume produced. Volume 1 of the magazine examined the bridging of imagination and reality. Volume 2 focussed on mental health and addiction. The team behind the magazine have also produced YouTube videos and a blog. Find out more by visiting the Mind Matters Magazine website, and stay updated by following the magazine’s Instagram account.

Echonomix

Echonomix is an online economics magazine run by students involved in the TISB Economics Club. The magazine aims to empower student views and perspectives by giving them a voice in issues that are dominant in the world around them. This allows students an opportunity to explore solutions to real world problems and gives them a platform to voice their opinions. The magazine is currently preparing for its fifth issue titled “Economics & Sport”. The first issue was published in July 2020 and titled “Crisis” (the second “Tensions”, the third “International Relations” and the fourth “Presidency & Leadership”). Find out more  about the magazine and find links to the different issues on the Echonomix magazine’s website and Instagram profile.

My Pen My Friend

My Pen My Friend is a website created by TISB Grade 8 student Aarushi and her friend. It is an online platform for contributions from Middle and Senior School students from all over India. The founders started the publication as they felt that writing as a hobby is no longer pursued by young people, and that young authors struggle to find an outlet where their work can be appreciated by their own age group. Posts on the website are written on a variety of topics, such as news, opinions, technology, sports, travel, book and film reviews, people and biographies, fiction, history and poetry. As part of the initiative the team have competitions to encourage students, and they hope to arrange workshops with authors from around the world, to improve the quality of writing by students. Read the publications and find out how you can get your pieces published on My Pen My Friend’s website and visit their Instagram account.

The Photon Magazine

The Photon Magazine is curated by TISB students and is written by and for physics enthusiasts. The magazine explores and treats topics related to everything that has to do with the physical universe around us. Passion is the seed of the magazine that was started because of a lack of physics platforms for physics enthusiasts – especially those in Middle and Senior School. The magazine was re-launched in 2020 and has recently published its third issue “Space: the Known and the Unknown”, exploring how it all started, how it will all probably end, and all the phenomena that happen in between. Explore and expand your inner physics enthusiast by visiting The Photon Magazine’s website and for shorter and more frequent update follow their Instagram account.

She Said What?

She Said What? was started by four TISB Grade 12 students: Sanjana, Inika, Risha and Krisha. The website is made up of two parts, a podcast and a blog. The team saw that womanhood in media often is portrayed in a simplified and stereotypical way, which fuelled a desire among the group of friends to reach out and share their personal thoughts with a wider audience. Each episode of the podcast is published on Spotify and explores different facets of life as a woman in modern society – ranging from business and politics to sports and social media. The blog on the website later takes the podcast episodes further and explores the topics deeper. Visit the She Said What? website to delve in deep on the issues and topics covered and visit the teams Instagram account for shorter and more frequent updates.

Stay tuned to our news with latest releases under #SchoolStories on our website. We also continuously feature and promote student-led publishing on our social media accounts.

To learn more about how to identify unverified content that is received on our devices and avoid spreading this information on social media, watch the UNESCO video on how to stop misinformation in time of the coronavirus.