Frontline Club bloggers
Ethnic rivalry wins over kitsch in the Caucasus
Foreign Policy magazine called the Eurovision Song Contest the "giddiest, stupidest, campiest, silliest international competition of them all," but don’t tell that to anyone in the South Caucasus. Here, many take it very seriously indeed. With the opportunity on hand to perpetuate decades of animosity and years of ethnic hate, if Eurovision was meant to bring nations together, in this […]
The Shanghai Car Park
It’s good to know that when I stop off for lunch at my favourite Chadian Chinese restaurant, the Shanghai in Abeche, our armed friends are asked to leave their rocket propelled grenades in the car park. Tension is being racheted up between Chad and Sudan. First Chadian rebels, backed by Sudan, launched an attack […]
Africa Handshake, Part Nine: Skeptics
With two expensive land wars draining the treasury, the Pentagon wants to prevent future conflicts without spending a lot of money. Two years ago the Navy launched its first, roughly annual Africa Partnership Station, sending ships on solo cruises up the West African coast to deliver training and humanitarian aid. The idea: to win new […]
Cartoon pokes fun at Subcomandante Marcos’ signature ski mask
Subcomandante Marcos, Mexico’s masked rebel figure who was one of the frontmen of the short-lived Zapatista uprising in the Mexican state of Chiapas in 1994, is famous for always wearing a black ski mask. The aim of the mask, allegedly, was anonymity, and an expression of the principle that "todos somos Marcos" — which […]
Film chronicles woman’s search for identity after Mexico’s ‘dirty war’
This week saw the cinema premiere here in Mexico of a film documenting the real-life story of Aleida Gallangos Vargas, the child of political activists who disappeared during the country’s "dirty war." "Trazando Aleida" (the translation is "Tracing Aleida") is a documentary by German filmmaker Christiane Burkhard about Gallangos’ search for her brother, from […]
Held hostage by the Taliban
Dutch journalist Joanie de Rijke was held hostage by the Taliban for six days in November, 2008. She was in Afghanistan reporting on the ambush that killed ten French soldiers. She has written a book about her experience (in Dutch only) called Held by the Taliban. She talked with Radio Netherlands Worldwide about the experience […]
Twitter, blogs, social media define youth protests in #baku, #azerbaijan
Defying earlier warnings, a group of youth activists last Sunday staged an action to protest the government’s failure to declare a national day of mourning after 13 people were killed in a shooting spree at a Baku university on 30 April. The tragedy shocked many both inside and outside Azerbaijan, but only a few took […]
ISAF launches Twitter feed
Earlier today, I was alerted to the ISAFmedia Twitter feed by my Frontline colleague, Alex Strick van Linschoten. I contacted ISAF, (NATO’s multinational International Security Assistance Force fighting in Afghanistan) and they confirmed that the Twitter feed is an official ISAF operation. A spokesperson said the project "is in its infancy", but ISAF hope to […]
Freelancing in Somalia
Bulgarian freelance journalist Elena Yoncheva has reported from many conflict zones for Bulgarian TV channels. She talks about her time in Somalia in The Standart newspaper today, Have you ever been under attack while on the move in Somalia? I was twice on the verge of being kidnapped. Once we were followed by a jeep […]
Bruised lensmen portraying Kashmir’s clear picture
The tussle between the media, Indian military and police in Indian Administered Kashmir has run into decades now. Journalists are intimidated and harassed while doing their job in what is an extremely hostile environment. At the forefront of this oppression are the photojournalists and camera crew of various newspapers and Channels whose presence is being […]
BBC reporter on covering Gaza
BBC Arabic Correspondent, Shahdi Al Kashif, reported from Gaza during the Israeli military attack at the turn of the year. On Wednesday, he talked to a small group of BBC journalists about the challenges he faced. Below I’ve paraphrased a few of the things he said. I’ve reordered some of his remarks. Reporting from a […]
Dictatorship files on the web
Yesterday the Brazilian government announced a series of initiatives that will allow access to classified files held by the dictatorial government between 1964 and 1985. The first one is a draft law that regulates the classification and access to government files, a Brazilian version of the Freedom of Information Act. President Luis Inácio Lula da […]
#Winnenden and Twitter: German media’s conversation of a shooting
"Kein zweiter Hudson-River-Tweet" (Stefan Winterbauer, Meedia.de) "Not a second Hudson River tweet" Two months have past since Germany was stunned by a killing spree in which 15 people died in Winnenden, just north of Stuttgart. At about 0930 on March 11 a former pupil of the Albertville Secondary School walked into the school and […]
Blog reaction to a new commander in Afghanistan
Lt-General Stanley McChrystal (right) addresses a press briefing on Iraq in 2003. Now he’s in charge of US forces in Afghanistan. (Defenselink.mil) Bill and Bob "Based on Gates’ announcement, it appears that it is a signal that field commanders will be held accountable for the lack of progress in their areas. Gates spoke […]
Back on the road
I’m back on the road after a couple of months stuck in Nairobi – the result of both the financial crash and the fact that I was locked in a room trying to write a book. Travelling would have been enough in itself but this is also my first trip to Chad. Arriving in Francophone […]
Roxana Saberi and media attention
While the world welcomes the release of US/iranian journalist Roxana Saberi and the analysts pile in with their take of what it all means for US/Iranian relations, roughly 125 journalists remain behind bars around the world according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The Iranian-Canadian blogger Hossein Derakhshan, arrested in Tehran on November 2008, slips […]
More on the role of social media in Moldova
A few weeks ago, I was part of an interesting debate about the role of Twitter in a protest against the Communist Party’s election in Moldova. I’d like to say that I think it has been a valuable exchange of ideas conducted in excellent order. I particularly want to thank all the people who commented […]
Venezuelan media on alert
Venezuelan premier Hugo Chavéz has launched a vociferous attack against the opposition media, accusing radio and TV channels of conspiracy. “Enough is enough”, the former paratrooper warned during his regular Sunday television broadcast (in Spanish). “They’ve gone to far.” Chavéz, who recently won a referendum eliminating limited presidential terms, issued a veiled warning to audiovisual […]
Africa Handshake, Part Eight: Size Matters
With two expensive land wars draining the treasury, the Pentagon wants to prevent future conflicts without spending a lot of money. Two years ago the Navy launched its first, roughly annual Africa Partnership Station, sending ships on solo cruises up the West African coast to deliver training and humanitarian aid. The idea: to win new […]
The evolution of military blogging in the mediasphere
A couple of weeks ago I was at the military blogging conference in Washington DC. (I decided to use the opportunity to spend some time travelling in Virginia and then I was straight onto a new media conference in Athens, so I’m way behind with the blogging.) It was really interesting to meet the milbloggers […]
Military’s drug museum shows narco tactics
Mexico’s "Museum of Drugs," buried up on the seventh floor of the Defence Ministry, isn’t open to the public. The installation was designed as an educational tool for military personnel who have been tasked with fighting Mexico’s narco-trafficantes and organized crime networks. It explains the methods that drug traffickers use to get their product around […]
Everyday Chaos in Tbilisi
Last week was another remarkable few days of chaos, intrigue and unresolved mystery in Georgia. An alleged uprising at a military base the day before prestigious NATO exercises were due to begin; arrests of alleged coup plotters; late-night clashes between protesters and policemen at police headquarters; the continued opposition blockade of several main […]
Banned TV station resumes broadcasting… via mobile
In its annual worldwide survey on the media, Freedom House has once again categorized Armenia as "not free," a situation which has been the case since 2002 when the pro-opposition A1 Plus TV station was taken off the air. A huge question mark then hung over the future of the company as many of its […]
Cholmondeley and Me
It was one o’clock in the morning and my beeping phone woke me. One of my papers had been calling, late, very late. I called them back. "Tom Cholmondeley has just been arrested. He shot someone on his land," said the night news editor in London. "Where’s that coming from?" My fuzzy mind knew it […]
Gabriel Orozco opens first solo show in three years in Mexico City
Gabriel Orozco, the Mexican contemporary artist, has opened his first solo show in three years in Mexico City. Crowds turned up last month to the unveiling at the Kurimanzutto art gallery despite the H1N1 flu alert alarming the city at the time. Orozco toured the Mexico states of Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro and San Luis Potosi […]
The one question to ask
In the past few days the North of Brazil has been hit by severe flooding. I was trying to gather some figures today when I came across a statement by the National Civil Defence Service. It read: "Over 796 people have been affected in ten states; 38 people have died; and 270 minicipalities face floods […]
Paper ballot boxes, minor clashes, and another assault… Yes, it’s election time in Yerevan
No sooner does the ruling Republican Party of Armenia inform journalists that there is no mutual hatred or enmity between political forces contesting the crucial municipal election to determine Yerevan’s mayor on 31 May comes news of some minor clashes between opposition supporters and the police. Oh, and did I mention an albeit aborted violent […]
Japanese journalist tours Somalia
Given the utter chaos within Somalia, outright danger for journalists and the fact that freelancers Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan remain hostages some 9 months after they were kidnapped outside Mogadishu, I was somewhat surprised to learn about Kenji Goto. He’s a journalist working for the "Independent Press" It appears he hooked up with a […]
Aiding and Abetting Khartoum
So you are an NGO recently expelled from Darfur. Over the years the government in Khartoum restricted your operations in the field, kicked out your country director and a security officer, whom the regime accused of being a Mossad agent. Then, just when you are wondering how you can ever actually help the millions of […]
Africa Handshake, Part Seven: Small Craft, Big Responsibility
With two expensive land wars draining the treasury, the Pentagon wants to prevent future conflicts without spending a lot of money. Two years ago the Navy launched its first, roughly annual Africa Partnership Station, sending ships on solo cruises up the West African coast to deliver training and humanitarian aid. The idea: to win new […]
