From the Frontline: November 2008 Archives
Why bother?
Molly Kaplan talks to three war reporters about why they do it. Of the three, regular readers and Frontline Club members will know John D. McHugh and Vaughan Smith. Less familiar may be Hiwa Osman from the IWPR. Molly asked the three to talk to students at the London College...more
Contact with Somalia kidnappers
AFP reports that contact between the authorities in Puntland, Somalia and the kidnappers of one British and one Spanish journalist in Bosasso has been made, "The kidnappers are asking for a ransom, but we refuse negotiations. We just want them to be released," [Bossaso Governor Musa Gueleh Yusuf] said without...more
Taliban free two kidnapped journalists
Dawa Khan Menapal of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Aziz Popal, who worked for a local TV station in Kandahar have been released after three days in captivity, Militants kidnapped the two in Ghazni province on Wednesday as they were driving on the country's main Kabul-Kandahar highway. The Taliban's high...more
Going live... Frontline Club Journalism Awards 2008
[video:bliptv:1525788] We're just going live right now with the Frontline Club Journalism Awards and the annual party. The club is now five years old. And it looks like Vaughan is relating the history of the club right now. Hope you come and join us... UPDATE: In the video above you...more
AFP reporter injured in Mumbai
An AFP reporter is among four people injured in crossfire outside the Taj Hotel in Mumbai today. A commando operation is currently underway to secure the hotel following the attacks of the past 24 hours. AFP reports that the journalist, a camerawoman, was not seriously hurt, Four grenades were launched...more
Telegraph war correspondent dies age 96
Edmund Townshend, who worked as a war correspondent for The Daily Telegraph during World War II, has died aged 96. On his first ever flight in an aircraft, during the Battle of Arhem, he was shot down and had to bail out. He went on to cover the D-Day...more
LIVE event: Gideon Mendel - Looking AIDS in the face
[video:bliptv:1519889] Award winning photographer Gideon Mendel has documented the impact of HIV/Aids in Africa for more than 12 years. He'll be discussing his work at the Frontline Club tonight. If you can't make it in person, do please join us online at 7.30pm UK time tonight Wed 26th November on...more
2 foreign journalists kidnapped in Somalia
Two freelance journalists, presumed to be British, are reported kidnapped by police in the northern Puntland region of Somalia earlier today, "I think both the journalists are British but we shall investigate ... we are sending police to free them," Puntland's police spokesman Abshir Said Jama told Reuters. link via...more
Abdullah Farah Duguf wins FPA award for Somalia film
Abdullah Farah Duguf won the prestigious TV News Story of the Year at the Foreign Press Association Awards in London last night. Duguf's colleagues at Channel 4, Ben de Pear and Nima Elbagir, were also there to pick up the award, De Pear said: "He sent back via DHL five...more
LIVE event: Elizabeth Pisani on HIV/AIDS
[video:bliptv:1517537] Elizabeth Pisani is at the Frontline Club tonight to talk about HIV/AIDS. Elizabeth is the author of The Wisdom of Whores and has spent ten years working as a scientist in the bloated AIDS industry. If you can't make it to the club in person, please tune in to...more
One night in Bangkok
Interesting time to be in transit at Bangkok International airport (Suvarnabhumi) via BreakingNewsOn the Twitter channel of The Breaking News Wire confirmed on AFP UPDATE: Looks like the airport is shutdown now....more
Farnaz Fassihi on reporting and Iraq
Farnaz Fassihi, an Iranian-American journalist, author of Waiting for an Ordinary Day: The Unraveling of Life in Iraq and The Wall Street Journal's deputy bureau chief for the Middle East and Africa, talks to Sara Sarnaz on the Persian Mirror. Fasshi reported from Iraq from 2002 until 2006 and...more
Fung's Afghanistan fixers released
Shokoor Feroz and his brother Qaem Feroz, who were working with CBC journalist Mellissa Fung when she was kidnapped on October 12, have been released by the Afghan authorities. The brothers were arrested by the National Directorate of Security soon after Fung's kidnap. Reporters without borders have released a statement...more
Shooting the messengers in Mexico
Just over a week ago crime reporter Armando Rodriguez was shot dead in his driveway in the border town of Ciudad Juárez. Two other crime reporters have since received death threats including Jorge Luis Aguirre, the 51-year-old editor of the Juarez news Web site called La Polaka. Frontline blogger Deborah...more
Amanpour hour to launch on CNNI in 2009
Foreign correspondent Christiane Amanpour is set to head up a new nightly programme, The Amanpour Hour, on the CNNI channel in the United States beginning in the summer of 2009, "Our thinking was we wanted a big, the biggest, name to hub our international prime time, and when it...more
Kate Peyton inquest kicks off
The inquiry into the death of Kate Peyton, the BBC producer who was gunned down outside the Sahafi Hotel in Mogadishu in February 2005, opens today, Ms Peyton's sister, Rebecca, an actress who lives in Brixton, south London, said: "All the journalists we've spoken to who have been to...more
Didace Namujimbo shot dead in South Kivu
Didace Namujimbo, a radio journalist with the UN-backed Radio Okapi station, was shot dead on Friday night. He is the second journalist from the station to have been shot dead in the South Kivu provincial capital Bukavu in the last eighteen months, "Once again a Radio Okapi journalist has...more
In the name of what?
Kate Adie says she asked this question of every interviewee she encountered during a long career as news correspondent for the BBC on the frontlines of the world. Susan Mansfield, in The Scotsman, turns the question on her,. So, Kate Adie, in the name of what? "Enlightening people. Which is...more
"Basic Foreign correspondence is dead. I think that's a damn good thing"
David Schlesinger, Reuters News editor-in-chief, gave the traditional foreign correspondent model both barrels at a debate on International news coverage at City University in London last week. “A lot of basic traditional foreign correspondence was lousy. It was reading the local papers, having some fixer translate it for you, stringing...more
Journalism's deadliest decade
Writing in The Observer, Richard Sambrook discusses what has been the deadliest decade for journalists. 173 journalists were killed in both 2006 and 2007 - up from 70 in 2002. The numbers look set to be lower in 2008, but as Richard notes, they're still far too high. Iraq is...more
Mike Saburi wins Mohamed Amin Award
Mike Saburi, a freelance journalist working in Zimbabwe has won the 2008 Mohamed Amin Award for his work in Zimbabwe, "For the last 12 months Zimbabwe has been at the forefront of the international news agenda once again," Amin said. "Covering this difficult story has meant that many journalists had...more
Journalists who risk their lives praised
Five journalists, including Andrew Mwenda from The Independent in Uganda, and one attorney were cited for risking their lives to report the news often working in places with dictatorial regimes, The six, who work in Iraq, Afghanistan, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Cuba, are recipients of this year's International Press Freedom Award...more
Call to free Afghan fixers
Reporters without borders have called upon the Afghan government to free the Afghan fixer and driver who were working with Mellissa Fung when she was kidnapped outside Kabul. The brothers, Shokoor Feroz and Qaem Feroz, were picked up hours after Fung was kidnapped and remain in the custody of the...more
The Amanda Lindhout kidnap story
As other journalist kidnap stories take the limelight, the case of Amanda Lindhout and her four fellow kidnap victims in Somalia has slipped off the radar. Macleans publish a time line today of what is known in the case. In the four page article Ken Menkhaus talks about his time...more
Gunnar Bergstrom says sorry
Gunnar Bergstrom reported from Khmer Rouge run Cambodia as a young reporter in 1978. He spent fourteen days in Democratic Kampuchea and filed glowing reports. Seven months after he returned to Sweden he retracted what had originally reported. This week, some thirty years later, he's back in Cambodia to...more
Our man in Goma
The Ihusi Hotel, Goma I'm finding it pretty tough to pity Rob out in Goma at the moment. I know hotels can get a bit a dull a bit quickly, but come on Rob... Mustn't grumble, ehh?...more
Congo - Condition Critical
[video:youtube:I-LJEdCiMEc] Médecins Sans Frontières launch their Congo - Condition Critical campaign this Thursday. Last week I did some training for the folks at the MSF offices in London and promised to give this very worthwhile campaign a push here. If you can help MSF get the word out, please do...more
Kidnapped journalists - one rule for staffers one for freelancers?
I've been mulling this over since I first heard about the kidnapping of Mellissa Fung in Afghanistan some weeks before it was finally reported and she was set free. Ever since I first started blogging about "the world of foreign correspondents, war reporters, life on the frontline and the job...more
HIV/AIDS Season at the Frontline Club
[video:brightcove:2390971001] We're running an HIV/AIDS season at the Frontline Club starting tonight. Some interesting stuff coming up well worth a look and we start with a screening from Sorious Samura, 18 Nov - Screening: Living with AIDS with Sorious Samura 25 Nov - Elizabeth Pisani, author of Wisdom of Whores...more
Peshawar off limits to foreign correspondents
Sami Yousafzai has reported from the border region of Pakistan and Afghanistan since September 11, 2001. However, he says he's never been in more danger. The Afghan journalist, who was attacked along with a Japanese journalist last week, spoke about safety from his hospital bed this week, “I think divine...more
Jon Ronson at the Frontline Club
[video:brightcove:2439065001] Jon Ronson spoke at the club last week. The video of the event is now live - Jon wanted the piece edited, not sure what he said that he's so worried about, but the discussion above is the edited version of the actual chat. More info on Jon below,...more
The only Twitter user in Kanadahar?
Is Alex the only Twitter user in Kanadahar? I think he probably is. Frontline blogger Alex talks about his life, his work and Twittering from Kandahar on the Tech Radar blog. "Get yourself set up with a Twitter account. It's a nice, low-cost way of letting people know if you...more
The Rory Peck Trust speech in full
I'm not sure of Vaughan Smith's speech at the Rory Peck Trust Awards last week was filmed or whether it will appear online at all, so here it is pasted in full below. Vaughan was a finalist for his blogged reporting from Helmand Province. All the finalists in the awards...more
I have been shot more times than I have been credited by the BBC
Frontline club founder Vaughan Smith has been in the news a bit of late for a few words he said at the announcement of the Rory Peck Trust Awards last week. The Guardian, Press Gazette and Journalism.co.uk all picked up on the line above. Today The Guardian runs some more...more
Edward R. F. Sheehan dies age 78
The freelance foreign correspondent Edward R. F. Sheehan has died at the age of 78. The journalist, playwright, novelist and scholar is best known for his reports from the Middle East. He also had a few close calls during a long career which began in the 1960's, "He almost...more
Women war photographers
Susan Meiselas, Jillian Edelstein and Jenny Matthews talk in The Guardian about their working lives as photographers on the frontline. There are more and more women doing it, they say, and the perceptions of others can help get to the story, "Though the secret service was on our case,...more
Giorgos Koiliaris dies after Afghan car crash
Greek TV war correspondent Giorgos Koiliaris has died from injuries he suffered in a car crash in Afghanistan last month, Giorgos Koiliaris had worked for several newspapers and radio stations before he started working for the NET broadcaster. The 53-year-old specialized in reporting on wars from around the globe, beginning...more
Politkovskaya trial opens Monday
The trial into the killing of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006 opens in a Russian military court on Monday. The family of the slain journalist have long campaigned for an open trial, but that looks unlikely, "We will demand that the trial be open. My mother was a...more
Donations for David Axe
Frontline blogger David Axe is heading to the Horn of Africa again and is looking for donations, Six months ago my readers contributed nearly $2,000 to help me fund a month reporting from Central Africa. This time around I’m asking for $3,000 to help jump-start my piracy coverage. Donations will...more
Beverly Giesbrecht kidnapped in Pakistan
Beverly Giesbrecht, a Canadian freelance journalist also know as Khadija Abdul Qahaar, was on a commission with Al-Jazeera when she was kidnapped on Tuesday. According to a report by AFP the 52 year old was seized at gunpoint in Bannu district of Pakistan which borders Afghanistan. "The government of Canada...more
LIVE tonight: Jon Ronson
Jon Ronson, the author of The men who stare at goats among many other things, will be talking at the club tonight. As usual we'll be broadcasting it live on the Frontline Club live channel. We start at 7pm UK time and you can read more about the event here....more
Two journalists shot in Pakistan
An Afghan journalist and a Japanese journalist were shot in the Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan city of Peshawar today. Motoki Yodsukura 四倉幹木さん, a reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, was shot in the foot and is said to be in a stable condition. However the condition of Abdul Sami Yousafzai, the...more
Massive explosion in Kandahar
Frontline blogger Alex was in Kandahar when a "huge explosion near Kandahar stadium" went off. I caught up on this a bit late as I've been training all day, but Alex had the wherewithall to poke his head on to the balcony, snap some shots, send a series of...more
Frontline Journalism Awards announced
The second annual Frontline Club Journalism Awards were announced today. Yuri Kozyrev wins the Frontline Club Award for his photo essay covering different sides of life in Baghdad since the US-led attack began in 2003, "Yuri Kozyrev has been on the ground almost continually for the entire length of this...more
Mellissa Fung swapped for prisoners?
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper denied Mellissa Fung, the CBC journalist kidanpped by the Taliban a month ago, was released in exchange for Taliban leaders at the weekend, "There have been continual reports about ransoms or money being paid. That was not done in this case," he told reporters in...more
Deborah Haynes wins inaugural Rat Up A Drain Pipe
Deborah Haynes won the inaugural Rat Up A Drain Pipe Award at the Society of Editors gala last night. The new award was presented by the BBC's Andrew Marr for her reports on the persecution Iraqi translators faced when the US and British forces withdrew. "Here is somebody who...more
Burmese blogger jailed for 20 years
Nay Phone Latt, the 28 year old Burmese blogger who blogged from the capital Rangoon during the bloody Saffron revolution in September 2007, was jailed for 20 years and 6 months on Monday. According to the blogger's mother Aye Than he was "convicted of contravening Public Offense Act 505 B...more
Mellissa Fung free
[video:youtube:goSQuxkfKwU] Mellissa Fung, a 35 year old journalist with CBC, who was kidnapped in Kabul four weeks ago was released today. She says she was kept in a cave for the first three weeks, "They kept me blindfolded, but not the whole time," she said. "They chained me. . ....more
Daniel Bennett on the Nick Meo brouhaha
Frontline blogger Dan is doing a great job trying to get to the bottom of a rather confused story relating to Nick Meo's report on a bomb explosion just outside Kandahar recently. I recommend you go and read through both Dan's posts on this. Start with the summary of the...more
Thomas Scheen freed
Belgian journalist Thomas Scheen, who was kidnapped by Mai Mai militia in the DRC earlier this week, has been released after being held captive for three days, "We thank all those in Germany, Belgium and Congo who worked intensively over the past days for the release of Thomas Scheen and...more
Dutch journalist freed
An unnamed Dutch journalist who was kidnapped by suspected Taliban in Afghanistan last week has been freed, The woman, whose name was not released, was captured on Saturday last week while she was en route to do a story about a group of Taliban who had killed 10 French soldiers...more
Radio journalist killed in Congo
Alfred Nzonzo Bitwahiki is reportedly among 20 killed in a battle for control of Kiwanja in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The Radio Racou journalist was confirmed killed by Human Rights Watch. The International Federation of Journalists has released a statement condemning the killing, "Our colleagues covering the conflict in...more
Scott Taylor on reporting from the Caucasus
Canadian war reporter Scott Taylor talks about getting into the Caucasus to report on the South Ossetian conflict. The editor of Canadian military magazine Esprit de Corps found the situation on the ground far from straightforward, Before setting out from Stavropol, I had been assured by the Russian authorities that...more
The other war in the Caucasus
I'll second Mathew Collin's sentiments about this BBC World Service report called the PR battle for the Caucasus. It's a fascinating 23 minute listen, The South Ossetian conflict, which began in early August this year, not only sparked a military war between Russia and Georgia, but a propaganda battle. It...more
Behind the scenes on election night
This will be the last US election post... The Obama campaign used a whole bunch of social media sites to propel their man to the White House. One of the tools they used on election night itself was Flickr. The election night slideshow is an extraordinary view behind the...more
Thomas Scheen kidnapped in Congo
Thomas Scheen has been named as the Belgian journalist kidnapped by the Mai Mai in the village of Mabenga in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Sheen works for the German daily, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, "Contacts have been opened with people involved or able to help with his release," he...more
Tehran newspaper shut down
The Shahrvand-e-Emrouz newspaper in Iran was shut down today. The LA Times Babylon & Beyond blog reports the weekly, with a circulation of 50,000, was banned for "publishing untrue news about the government of Ahmadinejad." Ramin Mostaghim talked to one of the journalists on the paper about the shut down,...more
LIVE tonight: Predicting the crash
[video:bliptv:1448148] The credit crunch and the role of the media in reporting it are up for debate at the Frontline Club in London tonight in an ultra-topical Predicting the Crash debate. As usual we'll be broadcasting the discussion on the Frontline Club live channel. We start at 7.30pm UK time...more
Click for Congo
Janeen Heath at the Pulitzer Center argues for keeping Congo in the headlines now that the US election is over and violence in the DRC has escalated yet again. However, as she argues in her post on the Untold Stories blog, space for international news coverage in general and...more
Belgian journalist seized
A Belgian journalist has been kidnapped by the Mai Mai in Mabenga, 70km north of Goma in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, In nearby village of Mabenga, a Belgian journalist working for a German newspaper was kidnapped by the Mai Mai late Tuesday along with...more
From Chicago to the streets of Tehran
Ramin Mostaghim blogged the reaction on the streets of Tehran to the election of Barrack Obama to the presidency of the United States, Hassan Mosavi, a 47-year-old barber, said he’s been closely following the campaign for days, mostly watching the Voice of America satellite channel. This morning, he awoke...more
US Election night continues
[video:youtube:lhT5pTYJKWo] If you're still awake this side of the pond - and I am barely - there are more photos from the Frontline Club election night party and there's a bit more video action taking in the first and second floors of the club down to the wee press room...more
Live from US election night at the club
[video:youtube:4yT7oGZsYDA] Click the video above to get some live atmosphere from the Frontline Club as the exit polls start to come in. And a big shout out to Natalie and Anna who are blogging live from the Frontline Club for the Guardian Weekly. See Anna in action below on a...more
Cows for McCain
Rob writes that the lovely beast above "gets it" if Obama wins tonight - Rob's standing outside Granny Sarah Obama's house in Kenya and blogging LIVE(ish)....more
Live tonight: US election 2008 at the Frontline Club
We're hosting a massive Monocle magazine sponsored event for the US election tonight with 300 folk invited. Everyone from army generals, ambassadors down to lowly hacks looking for a cool venue to spend the evening watching the results of one of the most important elections in our lifetime roll...more
From the Frontline:
Stories and analysis from journalists around the world and insight into the world of foreign correspondents, war reporters, life on...