Frontline Club

October 23, 2012

#FCBBCA Cyber snooping: In whose hands should internet governance be entrusted?

By Doug Brown A packed audience filled the Frontline Club forum on 23rd October to hear a panel tackle the question: In whose hands should internet governance be entrusted? Chaired by the Chief Executive of Index on Censorship Kirsty Hughes the event, in association with BBC Arabic, featured: Icelandic MP Birgitta Jónsdóttir; developer for The Tor Project, Jacob Appelbaum; independent media technology […]


October 11, 2012

Communicating about Syria – A humanitarian perspective

By Sally Ashley-Cound The conflict and humanitarian issues Syria faces is at the forefront of many peoples minds at the moment, this was reflected by the full house that gathered at the Frontline Club’s panel discussion, Communicating about Syria – A humanitarian perspective on 10th October. Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4 News’ International Editor chaired a […]


September 25, 2012

In the Picture: Urban refugees with Andrew McConnell

 By Sally Ashley-Cound Aiming to dispel the familiar and stereotypical image of refugees living in camps World Press Photo Award winning photographer Andrew McConnell previewed a new body of work about the 50% of refugees now living in cities at the Frontline Club’s, In the Picture: Urban refugees with Andrew McConnell, on September 24. Taken over […]


September 20, 2012

Ryszard Kapuściński: Where does journalism end and literature begin?

By Rebecca Omonira The significance of Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuściński was the topic of a heated debate at the Frontline Club on 19 September. Fans and a few critics flocked to the Frontline Club to discuss the writers’ life with: renowned Polish journalist and recent Kapuściński biographer, Artur Domoslawski; Victoria Brittain, former associate foreign editor at the […]


August 24, 2012

Bahrain’s unreported oppression continues – with a little help from the West

Written by guest blogger Richard Nield At an event hosted by the Frontline Club, an expert panel of speakers shed light on the ongoing oppression of political opposition in Bahrain, one of the most under-reported aspects of the Arab Spring, and the government’s systematic use of Western public relations companies to manage the regime’s global reputation.


May 29, 2012

The First Freelance News Safety Survey

The Frontline Club’s News Safety Initiative was launched on 8 May 2012 with a meeting of news industry decision-makers, leading practitioners and freelances, at the Frontline Club. The meeting was a great success and it was clear that everyone wanted us to take the best ideas forward.


April 27, 2012

Writing Libya’s revolution

By Richard Nield Speaking to a packed Frontline Club on 26th April, Channel 4 News’ International Editor Lindsey Hilsum shared a fascinating personal insight into the revolution in Libya last year that overthrew the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi after 42 years in power. In Hilsum’s words, Libya was the "only true revolution of last […]


April 25, 2012

A criminal fate in North Korea

By Rosie Scammell Shin Dong-Hyuk is the only known person born in a North Korean prison camp to escape. On Tuesday night he told a packed audience that they must help the 200,000 remaining: “The first thing that I remember being told by the prison guard was that we were supposed to be dead a […]


March 27, 2012

What next for Putin’s Russia?

By Alan Selby Against a backdrop of growing discontent, and widespread allegations of fraud, Russia’s recent elections heralded Vladimir Putin’s re-election to the presidency. The man who many still saw as Russia’s de facto leader will now resume his tenure, four years after ostensibly ceding power to Dmitry Medvedev.  In light of these developments a […]


March 25, 2012

Al Jazeera’s Indian Hospital series preview: Q&A

‘Indian Hospital’ is a new six part series that looks at a new style ‘super’ profit driven hospital that also cares for people with limited means.


March 22, 2012

Nine years on is the UN still failing Darfur?

View event here. Download this episode View in iTunes By Nicky Armstrong  Last night’s event at the Frontline Club saw a heated debate between the expert panel and the audience on the UN’s presence in Darfur. Chaired by Patrick Smith, editor of Africa Confidential, the discussion bought up many of the tangled complexities surrounding the […]


March 20, 2012

Are cheap, local hires saving or ruining foreign reporting?

By Helena Williams Foreign reporting is changing. With news outlets’ budgets tightening, and competition, pressure and risks on the rise, foreign journalists working in conflict countries are abandoning traditional methods of reporting in favour of using cheap, local hires to get the story: “It used to be that you were a local journalist, and treated […]


March 19, 2012

Iran: dangerous or just misunderstood?

By Thomas Lowe International disagreement on the aims of the Iranian government was well represented on the discussion’s panel. Does Iran seek regional hegemony? Are its motivations aggressive or defensive? And the pointed question at the heart of the debate – what will Israel do next? Martin Fletcher, associate editor of The Times took the […]


March 8, 2012

It’s the Military, Stupid

By Thomas Lowe ‘Memogate’, nuclear weapons, Bin Laden, Imran Khan, US foreign policy, Afghanistan – it seems that global issues are destined to pass through Pakistan. But it’s the vast military apparatus at the very centre of the state of Pakistan that took the attention of the Frontline panel – and demanded the mediation skills […]


March 2, 2012

Defending collaboration, with A. A. Gill and Tom Craig

View event here. By Alan Selby The advent of new media has seen an increasing pressure placed upon journalists to become multidisciplinary, but often to the detriment of each medium. During an evening moderated by David Campany, reader in photography at Westminster University, writer A. A. Gill and photographer Tom Craig mounted an impassioned defence […]


February 29, 2012

Frei at The Frontline Club

By Alan Selby A packed house at The Frontline Club heard Matt Frei regale them with tales from his long and illustrious career. The former BBC Washington correspondent, recently poached by Channel 4 News, was on fine form as he spoke to former BBC executive Vin Ray about more than 20 years with the BBC: […]


February 28, 2012

Screening: Darkhead

  By Charlene Rodrigues Torn by a lack of cultural identity, a Schwarzkopf or “Darkhead” is the word European born immigrants use to define themselves in Austria.   Arman T. Riahi’s documentary of the same name is a portrait of immigrant life in Austria, and follows Nazar, an Austro-Iranian 25-year-old rapper, as he and his […]


February 15, 2012

Rebuilding Libya

View in iTunes Watch the event here. By Alan Selby Much has happened since this time last year. The 15th of February 2011 saw the first Libyans take to the streets of Benghazi against a brutal dictatorship which ruled over them for 42 years. The events that followed sent shockwaves around the world, led to a […]


January 31, 2012

Part 1: Frontline Club discusses Italian press after Berlusconi

Watch the event here. By Will Turvill The Frontline Club last night hosted a lively and informative discussion on what the future might hold for Italian media in the post-Berlusconi era. The event was hosted by BBC Radio 4 presenter Steve Hewlett who was joined on the panel by four Italians and an Anglo-Italian lecturer […]


January 27, 2012

Frenemies entertain the Frontline Club

By Will Turvill A crowd gathered at the Frontline Club last night for a humour-filled evening hosted by comedian Katerina Vrana, who stood alongside jesting journalist Miss D (Daphna Baram) and Peyvand Khorsandi. In an exclusive preview of the stand-up show Frenemies, controversy and laughter were coupled throughout. With an Israeli Miss D and an […]


January 25, 2012

American Muslim: Freedom, Faith and Fear

By Alan Selby   A lot has changed in the years since 9/11. The date itself has become emblematic of a change in attitudes towards Islam, perhaps most notably in the country which bore witness to the infamous attacks that day. Popular opinion has shifted, and the land of the free has become an increasingly […]


January 19, 2012

Apply for an Internship at the Frontline Club

We are always looking for friendly, enthusiastic, hard working and ambitious individuals to help us improve and grow at Frontline. If you are interested in current affairs and like working in a small team we have two internship openings starting in February.


January 18, 2012

Frontline Club panel optimistic about the future of Egypt

By Will Turvill There was an overall feeling of positivity in the Frontline Club last night as the panel, chaired by the Observer‘s foreign affairs editor Peter Beaumont, discussed what the future might hold for the Egyptian people after a year of military rule. Indeed, despite recognising the number of challenges facing the revolutionary movement, each […]


January 12, 2012

How to become a freelance foreign correspondent

By Helena Williams Last year was the year of the freelance foreign correspondent. The tumultuous events of 2011 gave freelance journalists unprecedented access to breathless, breaking news stories in the Arab world – unlike Iraq and Afghanistan, where embedding restrictions applied, freelancers were free to travel and compete on the frontline. With the increasing attraction […]


January 10, 2012

U.N Me Screening and Q&A with author Ami Horowitz

By: Ivana Davidovic When the United Nations was founded after World War II it embodied the world’s hopes for a more peaceful and just world. Since it’s noble founding, wars and human rights abuses have continued unabated, throwing a spotlight at the UN’s role in keeping the peace and building a fairer world for all. […]


December 17, 2011

#FCBBCA Part 1: Women of the Revolution

 By Helena Williams The uprisings that shook the Middle East this year have been a focus of relentless debate. ‘Revolutionary Arab women’ – activists, bloggers and academics – took to the streets and fought both for their country and their rights, capturing the western media’s attention and begging the question ‘what does the future hold […]


December 1, 2011

Part 2: Democratic Republic of Congo: Presidential elections and blood minerals

Watch the event here.  By Thomas Lowe Many of the challenges facing Congo stem from its size, mineral wealth and its social complexity. The result of the Congo elections says Mary Harper, Africa Editor at BBC World Service will not be known for months, yet an incredible 18,000 candidates have put themselves forward. One key question […]


December 1, 2011

Part 1: Democratic Republic of Congo: Presidential elections and blood minerals

Download this episode View in iTunes Watch the event here.  By Natricia Duncan As we see landmark election in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the discussion at the Frontline Club turned to the way forward for this troubled nation. Chaired by Mary Harper, Africa Editor at the BBC World Service, who opened by asking: “Why a […]


November 27, 2011

Frontline watches the rise and fall of Yugoslavian film in Cinema Komunisto

By William Turvill  The end of the Frontline Club’s screening season was marked, on Sunday 27 November, with the showing of Cinema Komunisto, featuring a subsequent question and answer discussion led by one of the film’s producers, Iva Plemic. The film, created by a group of young filmmakers from Serbia, documents the creation and collapse […]


November 22, 2011

ToryBoy visits the Frontline Club

  By William Turvill The Frontline Club, on Monday 21 November, screened the critically acclaimed ToryBoy The Movie, followed by a question-and-answer session with the film’s creators, John Walsh and John Cowen. Dubbed the “documentary of the year” by The Guardian, this film follows the campaign trail of Walsh, a “disillusioned Labour Boy gone stray”, […]