Journalism
Only the rich report
Rageh Omaar recently returned to Iraq to catch up with people he has know over the last ten years from reporting there. Operating as a journalist there, he says, has never been harder and increasingly, it is only the rich media companies that can afford to send reporters, One of the least reported or acknowledged […]
Peter Arnett – We need to know what happens in wars
Long serving war reporter and 1966 Pulitzer prize winner Peter Arnett spoke to students in Texas this week about the job of journalism in a war zone. Arnett reported from the Vietnam war for a period of thirteen years and he compared that experience to present day Iraq, Reports found it incredibly difficult to write […]
Former Scoopt head honcho blogs for Frontline
Great to have Scoopt founder Kyle MacRae blogging with us here at From the Frontline. Kyle founded the world’s first citizen journalism photograph agency – Scoopt.com – in 2005. He’s been at the forefront of digital media industry ever since. He sold the company to Getty Imgaes a year ago and just last week left […]
America’s media failed
CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, who recently relocated from the UK to the US, was recently interviewed by former TV man Marvin Kalb at the National Press Club. Amanpour said the profession “failed to do our duty†in the run up to the Iraq war. She also touched on the leading cause of death in journalism these […]
“Like being in the mouth of a tuba”
In a series of behind the scenes films ITV’s Mark Austin and Phil Reay Smith describe life working as reporters in Helmand province, Afghanistan. And by the looks of things it’s all rather snug. As Mark says, “It’s the best food in terms of being in a theatre of war that I’ve ever tasted.” I […]
Back to foreign correspondent school
A Prague-based not for profit outfit called TOL is about to start offering a foreign correspondent training program for students and young journalists, The nine-day course, led by experienced foreign correspondents, will teach participants the essential skills of international reporting. One full scholarship will be given to an applicant from Eastern Europe. The course will […]
Iraq war reporters talk five years on
Five years since the war in Iraq kicked off, NPR talk to four reporters who have covered the war over the last half decade. They are Anne Garrels, John F. Burns, Ted Koppel and Hoda Abdel-Hamid, Iraq has changed dramatically in the last five years for journalists covering the war. When foreign correspondents arrived in […]
10 days to war
Interesting experiment from the BBC Newsnight team starting on March 10. 10 Days to War is a dramdoc created to mark the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Writing on the BBC Editor’s blog Peter Barron explains, The eight episodes, each of which focuses on the events and issues from the same day exactly […]
“More nervous than when I read the 10 o’clock news”
Frontline club member George Alagiah received his OBE for services to journalism this week. He admitted feeling “hugely honoured” by the award and that meeting the Queen got his nerves going a bit more than the day job does, “I think because there is history behind all of this and when you think of all […]
Kidnap victim John Martinkus back in Afghanistan
SBS Dateline Video Journalist John Martinkus returns to Afghanistan to report on his time spent travelling with the US 82nd Airborne in Afghanistan. John was kidnapped in 2004, where he was also embedded with US forces. At the time the BBC reported that Google saved him when his captors said they checked Google to confirm […]
News gathering in Afghanistan
[video:youtube:rPaTgRPr4O4] Here’s a brief video of how a number of Afghanistan based journalists followed a breaking story from their bases in Kabul. How good stringers and local knowledge are invaluable and the value of input from military sources, Veteran reporter and filmmaker Bill Gentile profiles noted journalists from The New York Times, the BBC, Time, […]
All about story-telling
MSNBC foreign correspondent Martin Fletcher remembers the good days, the carefree times and the big budgets. It’s all change now isn’t it Martin… We traveled to the airport in black limousines chauffeured by stiff-backed men in black suits and caps. We flew first class and became connoisseurs of fine wines. And then the shoe dropped: […]
“It’s my story, I want to cover it”
News reader and foreign correspondent Carol Barnes was fighting for her life last night after suffering a massive stroke at her home in Brighton. Carol had been due to fly out to South Africa in a few days’ time. Sir David Nicholas, former head of ITN remembers an occasion when Carol insisted on following up […]
2008 British Press Awards
The 2008 British Press Awards nominees were announced today. Sean Smith, from the previous post, is up for the new category of “Digital journalist of the year” while the contenders for Foreign Reporter of the year consist of almost all Frontline Club members, Christina Lamb from the Sunday Times, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad who works for The […]
A day in the life of a Burmese journalist
Aye Chan Myate, who was until recently a senior editor with a weekly journal in Rangoon, writes in The Irrawaddy what it’s like to be a working journalist in Rangoon. Doesn’t sound a whole lot of fun, In our newsroom, only the management desk and the copy-typists worked with computers. We reporters and editors had […]
Want to be a foreign correspondent? Get a partner with a good job
According to Poynter blogger Fons Tuinstra the only reason many foreign correspondents survive is because their partner has a decent job. Fons talks about the state of Dutch foreign correspondents in the light of a recent report in De Journalist (in Dutch) – a magazine for the NVJ union for journalists – or translated into […]
NATO discusses digital media
NATO Review discusses the effects of new media and blogging upon the amount and quality of information coming out of warzones today. The video discussion includes contributions from the founder of liveleak.com – a haven for bomb blasts, humvee crashes and the like. The discussion accompanies an article by our very own Vaughan Smith about […]
2008 Knight International Journalism Awards
The nomination phase for the 2008 Knight International Journalism Awards is now open. Submission deadline is April 4, The Knight Awards is hosted by the International Center for Journalists. The Awards recognize international journalists who demonstrate an extraordinary devotion to the craft by upholding the highest journalistic standards despite overwhelming challenges. Award winners receive a […]
Churnalism at the Frontline Club
[video:brightcove:1437286069] Controversial media commentator Nick Davies was at the Frontline Club the other day to talk up (or down?) what he calls churnalism. Nick’s book, Flat Earth News, has stoked a mountain of controversy throughout the British media from the likes of Adrian Monck, the BBC’s Kevin Marsh and Frontline club regular Roy Greenslade. Not […]
Baghdad bureau opens for blogging
The New York Times launches Baghdad Bureau this week. It’s “a blog supplementing the Reach of War coverage and focused on events inside Iraq” The New York Times Baghdad bureau is both home and office to between 7 and 10 western reporters, snappers and videographers along with a large Iraqi staff. The newspaper hopes the […]
Journalists are targets says Allan Little
Patrick Smith at the Press Gazette grills Allan Little, Frontline Club member, regular MC at club events and BBC foreign correspondent. Allan talks about his time in the former Yugoslavia and how the conflict changed his life, “The one that changed my life was Yugoslavia,†he says. “The funny thing was, it started within a […]
Sydney Schanberg on embeds
Quick follow up from an earlier post about Greg Mitchell’s new book about the run up to Iraq and the role of the media, a raft of reporters wade in to the whole “to-embed or not-to-embed debate. Sydney Schanberg has his say, “Em-bed-ded,” said Sydney H. Schanberg [the New York Times journalist known for his […]
David Brooks on the role of foreign correspondents
New York Times columnist David Brooks gave a talk at UCLA this week. He touched on the topic of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal journalist who was held hostage and murdered in Karachi in 2002. He also discussed the role of the foreign correspondent. The UCLA student rag, The Daily Bruin, has more, “His […]
Don’t be a whiner
From the Digital Journalist way back in 2003, war reporter Joseph L. Galloway gives sage advice to wannabe war reporters on what to carry and how to avoid being killed. I’ve extracted a few highlights, Strive to look as much like a private of whatever service you are travelling with. You do NOT want to […]
The run up to Iraq
In this week’s Editor & Publisher podcast there is an interview with E&P Editor Greg Mitchell who recently published a book about the run up to war in Iraq and the role of the media – “So Wrong for So Long: How the The Press, the Pundits — and the President — Failed on Iraq”. […]
Winners Of 2007 George Polk Awards
The George Polk Awards were announced this week. The categories change each year, but in foreign news reporting the winners are, Senior foreign correspondent Jim Sciutto, producer Angus Hines and cameraman/producer Tom Murphy for the program “ABC World News with Charles Gibson†will share the George Polk Award for Television Reporting. Last fall, Sciutto and […]
Frontline photographer wins award
Sean Smith was one of the winners at the Royal Television Society (RTS) journalism awards for 2007 for his report for Channel 4 News, ITN and Guardian Film’s called Iraq: Apache Company, The report by Guardian photographer Sean Smith – narrated by Channel 4 reporter Keme Nzerem – beat competition from Newsnight and al-Jazeera English, […]
Sexual harassment of foreign correspondents
Sexual harassment of female foreign correspondents is the topic in Mother Jones with Judith Matloff quoted on the harsh realities as she works on her second book, [Matloff] is also trying to challenge notions of a swaggering, hyper-masculine reporter at the center of a war zone. It’s an image, she says, that not only obscures […]
Back in the HotZone
Kevin Sites is back up with a post from Sri Lanka, Kevin Sites covered Sri Lanka as violence erupted between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels, pushing a nation with so much to lose back to the brink of all-out war. In rebel-held territory Sites interviewed Tiger fighters about their tactics and reported on the […]
Dozier secures sacred cat
The Milwaukee Press Club announces that CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier is to become the 2008 Sacred Cat Award honoree. The Sacred Cat Award has been doled out annually since 1973. It recognizes excellence in journalism at the national level. Dozier will accept the award at the club’s annual Gridiron Dinner, April 26, at the […]