The Forum Blog
The unpaid internship boom
By Alex Varley-Winter The internship boom, many of the positions unpaid, illegal and unmonitored, is an unfettered phenomenon. ‘Work experience’ is now so coveted that not only are people doing it for free, they are also paying to work. The fact that we can now auction internships off and trade on these experiences as commodities […]
Frontline: Vaughan Smith Shot in Kosovo (1998)
Earlier this week we posted the first of two excerpts from the newly revised and updated edition of Frontline by David Loyn, published last month by Summersdale. The acclaimed book tells the gripping story of the Frontline news agency, founded by journalists Rory Peck, Peter Jouvenal, Vaughan Smith and Nicholas Della Casa. The second excerpt, […]
You say you want an Arab Revolution: the Green movement in Iran
By Gianluca Mezzofiore The current struggle for power in Iran and the impact of the Arab Spring on the country were the topics for an animated First Wednesday debate at the Frontline Club last night. Award-winning journalist Saeed Kamali Dehghan pointed out that nobody in the past 20 years dared to expose the Supreme Leader […]
Graham Holliday: Five secrets about working abroad as a freelance correspondent
Frontline club – solo foreign correspondent View more documents from Graham Holliday Here’s freelance journalist Graham Holliday‘s presentation on working as a freelance. Graham, who is living in Rwanda where he runs Kigali Wire, a news wire, photojournalism site and blog, discusses freelancing in 2011 and his "five little secrets" about working abroad.
Frontline: a high peak of journalism
Today we are pleased to post the first of two excerpts from the newly revised and updated edition of Frontline by David Loyn, published last month by Summersdale. The acclaimed book tells the gripping story of the Frontline news agency, founded by journalists Rory Peck, Peter Jouvenal, Vaughan Smith and Nicholas Della Casa. The first […]
On the Media: Going at it alone as a foreign correspondent
View in iTunes Watch the event here. The rise of a new breed of foreign correspondent, a multimedia-savvy reporter who is comfortable working solo without the backup of a big news organisation – was the topic of Tuesday’s On the Media discussion. Chaired by Matthew Eltringham, editor of BBC College of Journalism website, the […]
Rethinking the veil: Leila Ahmed in conversation with Azadeh Moaveni
By Viola Caon Watch the event here. Few garments have been as discussed as extensively or emotively as the veil, which for many in the West has become a symbol of the repression of Muslim women. But Harvard Divinity professor Leila Ahmed, who was at the Frontline Club to discuss her recent book A Quiet Revolution: […]
John Pilger and The Wars We Don’t See
By Christopher Czechowicz As a daring and impassioned journalist with a decades-long career, John Pilger has inspired and motivated many to ensure human rights and preserve unfiltered truth. From films such as Year Zero: The Silent Death of Cambodia (1979) to The New Rulers of the World (2001), he has unrelentingly made this his commitment. […]
Amnesty International: 50 years of speaking out for the powerless
By Antje Bormann The executive producer for BBC Four’s international documentary strand Storyville, Kate Townsend, was at the Frontline Club last night to introduce the film Amnesty! When They Are All Free, which marks its 50th anniversary. The film goes on to tell the story of not so much an organisation, but a movement, that […]
Frontline: reporting from the world’s deadliest places
A newly revised and updated edition of Frontline by David Loyn was published this week. The acclaimed book chronicles the work of the Frontline news agency, founded by journalists Rory Peck, Peter Jouvenal, Vaughan Smith and Nicholas Della Casa. First published in 2005, the latest edition features a foreword from BBC world affairs editor John […]
World’s Oceans in Crisis – What can be done?
View in iTunes By Mariah Hamalainen “We are facing a complete collapse of ocean ecosystems, globally”, said Professor Charles Sheppard at the Frontline Club on Wednesday evening during a panel discussion on the state of the world’s oceans. The oceans have been exhibiting the effects of global warming since the late 1970s and a quarter of […]
Osama bin Laden’s death: What difference will it make?
Watch the full event here. By Patrick Smith On the day after al Qaeda’s “leader” Osama bin Laden was killed by US forces in a daring raid on a nondescript compound outside Jalalabad, BBC Urdu sent out reporters into four cities across Afghanistan and Pakistan. Not to ask questions, but to observe. To sit at […]
Insight with Zarghuna Kargar: The women of Afghanistan
Watch event here. By Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi Women would be the biggest losers if Afghanistan’s peace plan includes a deal with fundamentalist elements of the Taliban, according to Rachel Reid, who hosted Frontline’s talk with Afghan journalist Zarghuna Kargar. Reid sais she had lost hope that peace in Afghanistan would include progress for women. Reid, […]
In the Picture: On your doorstep, photography and poverty
Diana Smythe, deputy editor of the British Journal of Photography, was last night joined by Save the Children’s Chris Wellings, and photographers Liz Hingley and Gideon Mendel to discuss the depiction of poverty within their work. By Sophia Spring.
War Child: helping the children of Gaza overcome the trauma of conflict
By Mike Pope Gaza is not like it is depicted in the mainstream media, its people are not doomed and it can achieve peace with Israel according to Jezza Neumann, director of War Child. Gaza is an incredibly hospitable place, the friendliest people I’ve ever met; it’s not dangerous in terms of your daily existence. […]
We feared a crackdown when they told us to leave Yemen
Portia Walker, who is now in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, describes her deportation with three colleagues from Sana’a, Yemen’s capital and how today’s shooting of protesters confirms their fears that it could mark the beginning of a government crackdown. The Yemen Four: L-R Joshua Maricich, Haley Sweetland Edwards, Oliver Holmes and Portia […]
Nick Robinson: a mission to explain the world of politics
By Camilla Groom Nick Robinson, one of the most well-known political journalists in Britain, was at the Frontline Club to talk about his fascinating career as part of the ‘Reflections’ series, which are in association with the BBC College of Journalism. He chose eleven key clips that he felt best represented his career and […]
Zimbabwe 2011: An opportunity for change?
Download this episode View in iTunes Watch the event here. By Mariah Hamalainen “I don’t think there will be free and fair elections in Zimbabwe in 2011” Geoff Hill said at a recent panel discussion on the topic at Frontline Club. Geoff Hill wasn’t alone; his fellow panelists agreed that should the elections – which […]
David E. Hoffman: Reagan, Gorbachev and the Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race
By Camilla Groom Watch the event here. With detailed insider knowledge David E Hoffman told the story of how the president of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev and the US president Ronald Reagan prevented the escalation of the Cold War into a full-blown conflict. As a reporter for the Washington Post Hoffman followed Reagan throughout […]
Insight with James Brabazon: My Friend the Mercenary
View in iTunes Watch the event here. By Sarah Gibbons Few people can say that they were involved in one of the most infamous coup attempts in recent history, the foiled attempt to overthrow the government of Equitorial Guinea of 2004, let alone experienced civil war in Libera, marched for miles alongside its rebel […]
In the Picture: a discussion with World Press Photo Winner Adam Ferguson
Adam Ferguson, one of the first prize winners of the World Press Photo Awards 2010, talked about being a war photographer and recent assignments in Afghanistan at the Frontline Club.
Insight with Tariq Ali: The Obama Syndrome
View in iTunes Watch the full event here. The week following one of the worst Democrat defeats in recent history seemed the perfect opportunity to discuss novelist and International commentator Tariq Ali‘s new book The Obama Syndrome: Surrender at Home, War Abroad. The midterm polls, which gave the Republicans over 60 more seats in the House […]
A look into the US midterm election results
By: Anne Elica ño The American Republican party won a majority of Congress seats in the midterm elections. In a discussion at the Frontline Club last night, BBC Radio 4’s Broadasting House Paddy O’Connell asked Bill Barnard (chair of Democrats Abroad UK), Tom Grant (chair of Republicans Abroad UK) and Felicity Spector (American politics expert […]
Russia’s secret services: power gone out of control
Download this episode View in iTunes By Sara Elizabeth Williams A dark picture of Russian democracy emerged at the Frontline Club last night as Susan Richards spoke with journalists Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan about power, accountability and Russia’s secret services. Soldatov and Borogan, co-founders of secret service watchdog site Agentura.ru, are the authors of […]
Autumn treats…
With the winds and rain beating down- escape to the delights of the Frontline restaurant to warm up on rack of lamb, rump steak or roast cod- followed by a cheeky steamed treacle pudding with fresh Jersey cream…
10 years on: the unsettled, unsettling legacy of Slodoban Milosevic
By Sara Elizabeth Williams On 5 October 2000, Slobodan Milosevic was removed from power in a people’s revolution that ground to a halt 13 years of conflict. Watching half a million Serbians swarm the streets, the world had high hopes for Belgrade. But ten years on those hopes remain largely unfulfilled, journalists speaking at last […]
Data journalism skills at the Frontline: Why you should use data to tell a more powerful story
By Jasper Jackson Data helps journalists paint a more compelling and complete picture – but only if they can interpret and present that data effectively. That was the message from journalists with extensive experience of the benefits, challenges and pitfalls of data and journalism at the Frontline on Wednesday. If you couldn’t make the event, […]
Climate change is about people not polar bears
Download this episode View in iTunes Watch the full event here. By Christine Ottery If Amnesty International is campaigning against it, that means climate change has become a global humanitarian issue. Better known for supporting prisoners of conscience, Amnesty has recently begun to turn its attention to using human rights as a way to tackle […]
Iraq revisited: What next for the Forgotten War?
Picture: Chris King By Sara Elizabeth Williams As the last full US combat brigade rumbled out of Iraq, what comes next for the region and its people, and what is the legacy of this long and divisive conflict? A Frontline Club panel got together to discuss just that on Wednesday night, discussing Iraq’s recovery […]
Neither friend nor foe: Google is just the messenger
By Jasper Jackson Google’s online dominance puts it at the heart of forces undermining the traditional news publishing industry. But a Frontline Club panel on Google’s relationship with publishers on Wednesday focused on the wave of technological change behind the search giant that means the industry must "innovate or die". If you couldn’t be there […]