From the Frontline: December 2007 Archives
Christina Lamb remembers Bhutto
Award winning journalist and club member Christina Lamb remembers Benazir Bhutto in today's Sunday Times, We had just entered Santa’s castle in the pretty Portuguese village of Obidos on Thursday when my phone beeped with the first text message. “Benazir has been critically wounded in bomb attack – in...more
Taking the flak
A new BBC comedy about the life of war reporters is set to start filming in January. Martin Jarvis will portray a veteran foreign correspondent and war reporter in the six part BBC2 series, called Taking the flak, set in a fictional African country. The series is written by...more
147 year old war photography
Some 200 historic black-and-white images from the American civil war are published in the new book, "Historic Photos of Chickamauga Chattanooga" by James A. Hoobler. The book follows "Historic Photos of Gettysburg" and is part of a planned series. "It's the most traumatic event in American history -- the only...more
Afshin Rattsani remembers Bhutto
Frontline club member and Al Jazeera journalist Afshin Rattansi recalls meeting Benazir Bhutto on the steps of the club opposite Mickey's fish and chip bar after her Q&A session in July 2007, It was quite a scene. Members of her security detail – I assume – milled about in front...more
Kosovo nine years on
In another superb multimedia presentation, writer Nicholas Wood and photographer Andrew Testa of the New York Times talk about the war in Kosovo that began nearly nine years ago and how the legacy continues today on the verge of the country's independence....more
Dogs not people
It's easier to get a dog out of Iraq than it is to get an Iraqi out. Ex-Washington Post Baghdad bureau chief, Ellen Knickmeyer, tells the story of how she got her dog out of Baghdad, We all try to pretend day-to-day that our differences of nationality, race and class...more
The Geography of Bliss
The New York Times prints the first chapter of Eric Weiner's new book, The Geography Of Bliss: Why Is That Land Smiling? In it he explores ten of the most, and least, contented countries of the world. As foreign correspondent for NPR, he's seen his fair share of both,...more
OBE for George Alagiah
Among the Kylie Minogues and the Michael Parkinsons of the Queen's New Year Honours list is George Alagiah, the BBC news presenter, foreign correspondent and Frontline Club member. George receives an OBE. He has reported on the genocide in Rwanda, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and from the war...more
Foreign correspondent or spy?
It's a bit of a cliché, but if a new book, Berlin and Beyond, is to be believed some foreign correspondents do indeed make great spies. Well, at least one of them did. Soon after Anthony Terry died in 1992, stepdaughter Judith Lenart was clearing out his desk when...more
John Moore in Rawalpindi
The New York Times uses a combination of images, audio and text to rapidly create a very powerful and informative multimedia report from Getty's John Moore who was at the scene of Benazir Bhutto's assasination in Rawalpindi yesterday. via Ben...more
Benazir Bhutto 1953 - 2007
[video:brightcove:1111466957] Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, was assasinated earlier today in Rawalpindi. Six months ago, at the Frontline Club, she was interviewed by George Arney of the BBC World Servive about the future for her country....more
Postage stamp journalists
The American Postal service recently announced its 2008 range of stamps. A number of American foreign correspondents will appear on next year's stamps, Martha Gellhorn, who covered the Spanish Civil War, World War II and the Vietnam War in a long career that broke new ground for women; John Hersey,...more
Reporting Iraq
Vivienne Walt, Judith Matloff and Christopher Allbritton interview some 50 journalists who have worked extensively in Iraq for the book called Reporting Iraq. The Statesman reviews the book, The psychological toll of war reporting is often forgotten or denied, even by journalists themselves. In "Reporting Iraq," Anne Garrels of NPR...more
Kelly Kennedy in Adhamiya
Amy Goodman at Democracy Now interviews Kelly Kennedy, a staff writer with the Army Times, about breaking the story of mutiny among the ranks of Charlie company in Adhamiya, a district in northeastern Baghdad, I hope that the story would show people exactly what soldiers in Iraq are dealing with....more
Lamb gets a gong
In awards news... the 2007 "What the papers say" awards are announced today and for the second year running the Sunday Times Foreign correspondent, and Frontline Club founding member, Christina Lamb has won the award for Foreign correspondent of the year. Well done Christina and here's the full list...more
Top underreported stories of 2007
It's nearly the end of the year, it must be list time. Medecins Sans Frontieres release their tenth annual top ten list of stories they think journalists don't report enough on and readers don't get to read enough about. Here's the list. Or see a quick view of the...more
Is this the best front page story ever?
Frontline Club Founder member Ben Hammersley emails to say he thinks it is and I'm inclined to agree with him, On December 14th [on page 1A of the Lewiston Tribune] ran two substantial photos: In one, a husky man in a black-and-blue checkered coat is seen hanging Christmas decorations...more
Natalia Morari has her say
Last week Moldovan journalist Natalia Morari, who works for New Times Magazine, was barred entry from Russia on orders of the Federal Security Service FSB and sent back to the Moldovan capital Chisinau. Former journalist and Human Rights campaigner Grigory Pasko interviews her on the Robert Amsterdam blog...more
Story of the scarf
When journalist, and author of In the Red Zone, Steve Vincent was killed by gunmen in Basra, his translator Nour Khal kept the blood stained yellow scarf she was wearing at the time they were both shot. She survived and now Khal and the scarf reside in Manhattan with...more
Stay Alert
[video:youtube:BM171IMYuKc] Recently released promovid from the rather good Reuters AlertNet service. Great for "news before it's news" with over 400 aid agencies contributing. If you don't already use the service, it's certainly worth a look. via IJNet...more
Win a bag
The good folk at Journalism.co.uk enter the seasonal spirit with a win a bag competition for journalists - not just any bag, not just any competition. Entrants will need to demonstrate, evidence of innovative online multimedia use to deliver a piece of journalism - relating in some way to...more
Freedom of the press
The BBC World Service celebrates its 75th birthday today. On the Free to speak site radio page there is a discussion on the role of the service in the future, in today's rapidly changing media landscape what does the BBC World Service have to do to ensure its future?...more
John D. McHugh on the BBC
Frontline club member, photographer, occasional club speaker and sniper bullet survivor John D.McHugh is back in Afghanistan and he's interviewed about his return on this week's BBC Radio Pods & Blogs show. You can listen to the show here or, go one better, and subscribe to the excellent podcast....more
A disappearing way of life
[video:youtube:hIxCbMcHAQQ] "This is a disppaearing way of life," says former Times editor Martin Fletcher as he promotes his forthcoming book, "Breaking News: A Stunning and Memorable Account of Reporting from Some of the Most Dangerous Places in the World", via YouTube. The book documents 35 years on a journey "from...more
Strange games and bridges
Jocelyne Saab started out as a war reporter in 1975 before turning her hand to fiction and feature films in 1985 with her first film, Suspended Life. She talks with NewIndPress at the International Film Festival of Kerala about her work as a war reporter and her more recent...more
Richard Engel wins a duPont
Richard Engel wins a duPont Award for his MSNBC War Zone Diary which aims to give an insider's look at the life of a war correspondent in Iraq. The 2008 duPont awards, which were announced today, were originally established in 1942 and are widely considered to be the broadcast equivalent...more
Gwen Le Gouil seized in Somalia
Reuters reports that negotiations are underway today in Somalia for the release of French cameraman Gwen Le Gouil abducted on Sunday. He was working in the northern Puntland region on a human trafficking story, "The negotiations are underway this morning," said Jean Laurent, a colleague of Le Gouil's in Nairobi...more
Inside the Surge ends
[video:youtube:OBu3AJF52Is] Snappers Tom Van Dyke and Kuni Takahashi working for the Chicago Tribune on a multi-part series from Iraq called Inside the Surge were in for a bit of surprise when they returned to Baghdad last month. They were no longer wanted. Sunday's edition of the Tribune has more, The...more
Killed in Baghdad
Ali Shafeya Al-Moussawi, Special Correspondent with the excellent Alive in Baghdad, was shot and killed in his home in Habibya, part of the Sadr city, on December 14th. The Alive in Baghdad blog has more, On Friday the 14th at 11:30pm Baghdad time, Iraqi National Guard forces raided the street...more
Beyond the Green Zone
Former Alaska mountain guide Dahr Jamail had no formal journalism training or experience when he picked up a laptop and digital camera and headed to Iraq initially emailing stories back to a small group of friends. He soon got picked up by independent news services. Beyond the Green Zone...more
Coughlin leaves Telegraph
Daily Telegraph executive foreign editor Con Coughlin has left the paper's staff after his stint running the department saw eight correspondents depart in a wave of sackings and resignations. Coughlin left his staff position on December 1, without a payoff. He will continue to write his Inside Abroad column and...more
Reportage Press doubles output
Reportage Press is run by Frontline Club founder member Charlotte Eagar. It has published four books since May and plans to double output into 2008. Eagar's own debut novel - The Girl in the Film - set during the seige of Sarajevo is due out in March. Also due out...more
Shelley Rohde dies
In 1954, while working for The Daily Express Shelley Rohde became the first female foreign correspondent assigned to Moscow when she was aged just 21, She learned Russian and when former Russian premier Nikolai Bulganin and communist party chief Nikita Khrushchev visited Britain in the late 1950s she acted as...more
7th Miguel Gil Moreno Journalism Prize
The Miguel Gil Moreno Foundation and Random House Mondadori announce their competition for the seventh Miguel Gil Moreno Journalism Prize. Journalists from any country, working in any medium, are welcome to apply. Entries must be translated into Spanish. Deadline: March 24. The prize was founded in honor of Moreno, an...more
Who talks about them?
[video:youtube:wamMBgt3Uic] Hesain Khadir is an exiled journalist from Iraq living in Britain. He recently spoke at the University of Stirling about the life of Iraqi journalists living and working in Iraq, "You are banning yourself from expressing yourself freely... People of Scotland realise the pain of what happened with Alan...more
Blog Wars at Frontline Club
Go catch the screening of Blog Wars, a film directed by James Rogan, at the Frontline Club next week Followed by Q&A with director James Rogan and Producer Phil Craig, Mon 14th January, 7.30pm Price: £5.00 - [The film] takes a look at the rise and influence of blogs in...more
Shanker gets frisked in Kabul
Thom Shanker, Washington Correspondent for the New York Times, relates three tales of his recent blast through Djibouti, Afghanistan, Iraq and Bahrain on the trail of US Defence Secretary Robert M. Gates, Outside the palace walls, correspondents went through metal detectors, and had their backpacks searched — that’s routine. But...more
Dick McGowan dies
Former war reporter and White House correspondent Richard "Dick" McGowan died on Monday. He worked as a correspondent with the Army's 7th Infantry Division during the Korean War, mainly for Stars & Stripes and Army Times where he, "brought the front lines to the front porch with combat stories about...more
Working in the Korengal valley
In the latest edition of Vanity Fair, Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington talk about working on a story from the Korengal Valley frontline in Afghanistan. The duo were embedded with Second Platoon for ABC News....more
Baghdad catwalk
The Daily Telegraph's Colin Freeman finds his fashion sense shot to shreads by his translator upon a arrival in Baghdad, ''Forget those foreign-looking clothes, dress like an Iraqi,'' he advised. In modern-day Baghdad, however, that didn’t mean doing a Lawrence of Arabia number in elegent Arab robes and headdress. Instead,...more
At War
[video:youtube:iEVmbED4_0U] At War, a film by Scott Kesterson embedded with Army National Guard 41st Brigade, is due out in 2008 and this is the third trailer - via Afghanistanica...more
Alan Johnston leads media feeedom conference
Alan Johnston, former BBC corrrespondent in Gaza, recently held hostage, will speak on the problems of reporting conflict at a major NUJ conference, 'New Threats to Media Freedom – how we fight back' on 26 January. Building on the success of the union's Journalism Matters campaign, the conference, sponsored by...more
Courage and Lifetime Awards
The Washington D.C.-based International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) is currently seeking nominations for its Courage in Journalism Awards and Lifetime Achievement Award. Last day to nominate someone is March 1, 2008. The Courage in Journalism Awards honor female journalists from all over the world who have “demonstrated extraordinary strength of...more
Lyse Doucet lands news award
BBC Foreign Correspondent Lyse Doucet wins in the news and current affairs category of the Women in Film and Television (WFTV) awards announced today....more
Axe not dead
We interviewed David Axe a couple of weeks ago before he headed into Somalia. He blogs today that, contrary to pre-assignment popular opinion, he did not die, Somalia: so what’s it all about? It’s about how divisive internal politics can prevent the resolution of a conflict that pretty much everyone...more
The Finer craft of Foreign Correspondence
Over at the brainfilled Yale College in the States it appears that former Washington Post embed in Iraq, Jonathan Finer LAW ’09 and self-confessed "burned out" reporter, is set to teach a residential-college seminar titled “The Craft of Foreign Correspondence." If Finer Law '09 could have his way, the...more
Where is Moldova?
Looking for a brain teasing, stocking filler this festive season? Where is Moldova? is a wannabe Foreign Correspondent's first step on the ladder and a don't-wannabe a Foreign Correspondent anymore's memory stretcher. So good, The Times, just named it numero uno present this Christmas....more
The upside of downtime in Paris
Frontline club founder member Bruce Palling ruminates in More Intelligent Life magazine on the upside of a job that "pays peanuts" as he spends a bit of downtime at the doesn't-cost-peanuts Le Cinq restaurant in Paris, When foreign correspondents socialise abroad, one thing they never complain about is the calibre...more
War News Radio
All the wars, all of the time. Well OK, some of the wars, some of the time. War News Radio reports on and from Afghanistan and Iraq and is cobbled together by students at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. The weekly 29-minute programme is free to listen to. The station...more
BBC staff get Russian stick
This just in from AP, via Pravda, British Broadcasting Corp's employees have been attacked in Moscow over the past two weeks. The company was investigating whether they were targeted because of their work. The attacks took place on three different dates in three different locations since Nov. 24, BBC World...more
Amanpour to America
After eight years,"probably the world's highest paid reporter" and occasional Frontline Club MC, Christiane Amanpour is to up her British sticks and head over the pond to New York. The Scotsman profiles the CNN stalwart ahead of the move, Her dispatches from Berlin as the wall fell; from Iraq during...more
The Demise and Rise of the Foreign Correspondent
"The trench coated foreign correspondent as Gregory Peck played him in the movies is suddenly almost extinct" So began Christopher Lydon on the Open Source podcast in February, 2007 in reponse to the closure of three foreign bureaus of the Boston Globe. The Globe cutbacks followed the axing of foreign...more
Bearing up in Khartoum
Take one teacher, one teddy bear and three British journalists. Throw them into the centre of Khartoum, keep the hacks high on lemon soda, a teacher jailed, the local media rabid, the diplomats flustered and what've you got? A day or two in the life of foreign correspondents, Rob Crilly,...more
Protection for war reporters
Seven countries including the United States and Britain have joined in a new move to ensure the safety of journalists in war zones, the International Red Cross said. France, Germany, Australia, Canada and Denmark also committed themselves to accept a new nonbinding accord on protecting correspondents in line with the...more
From the Frontline:
Stories and analysis from journalists around the world and insight into the world of foreign correspondents, war reporters, life on...