Frontline Club bloggers
Mexico’s missing children inspire artist
Jonathan Mirando García, age 7. Disappeared in the Tlapan neighborhood of Mexico City on Nov. 22, 2006. Distinguishing features: a mole on his nose.
Saul Hernandez Ramírez, 10 months old and 55 centimeters in size. Disappeared in Naucalpan, Mexico City, on an unknown date.
América Martínez Enriquez, 1 month old. Disappeared from Matamoros, in the state of Tamaulipas, on June 23, 2003.
The list of missing children in Mexico, crushingly, goes on for a lot longer. About 45,000 children are reported missing in Mexico every year, according to Aprenem (Asociación Pro Recuperación de Niños Extraviados y Orientación de la Juventud de México), an organization dedicated to trying to find them.
It was that staggering fact as well as the huge number of posters and ads for missing children around Mexico City that prompted Mexican artist Ilán Lieberman, 39, to create "Niño Perdido" (Lost Child). The exhibition, which will
be accompanied by a book of the same name later this year, opened Tuesday in the Museo de la Ciudad de Mexico in downtown Mexico City and is scheduled to travel to El Paso, Texas, in June.
Gaza: Missiles and Messages
You can now watch the full event here. A debate on media coverage of the conflict Gaza including contributions from: Jonathan Miller (C4) Alan Fisher (Al Jazeera) Harriet Sherwood (The Guardian) Ruthie Blum Leibowitz (The Jerusalem Post) via skype Lior Ben Dor (Israeli affairs specialist) Location: The Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place, London W2 2QJ […]
Unemployed in Tehran
Issa Saharkhiz talks about the difficulties of working as a journalist in Tehran to NPR. Or in his case, of not working. Saharkhiz tells NPR that every paper he’s ever worked on has been closed. Most recently, the Iranian authorities closed two popular publications he ran; the Daily Economic News and a monthly magazine called […]
A Good Day for the Pirates
Pirates with the MV Faina (US Navy pic) It looks like The Faina, hijacked by Somali pirates in September with 33 Russian tanks destined for South Sudan, is finally being freed for a record $3.2-3.5m ransom. No definitive confirmation from the Yanks who have been keeping a close eye on the ship. Lt Nathan […]
Anti-piracy campaign targets cinema-goers
Take a trip to the cinema in Mexico anytime soon and you’ll probably see an ad campaign that scolds the Mexican public for buying pirated movies. Purchasing any of the millions of pirated DVDs and CDs available at an estimated 50,000 “puestos” or open-air street stalls doesn’t, apparently, make one a great ethical shopper. In […]
Said Tahlil Ahmed shot dead in Somalia
Said Tahlil Ahmed, the director of HornAfrik Radio, was shot dead this afternoon by three gunmen near Bakara market in Mogadishu according to the National Union of Somali Journalists. “This is a outrageous and appalling assassination” said Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ Secretary General. “Said Tahlil Ahmed was assassinated because of his strong and professional commitment […]
Women Reporters and Psychological Trauma
This Monday (1 February 2009) I took part in an interesting conference of female reporters, “Building Bridges Across Conflicts” in Moscow. Here is an article I wrote for this conference. When we talk about journalists and journalism – should we specify if a reporter is female or male? Probably in many aspects of professional activities […]
Redemption Pong
Films set in Africa have come a long way recently. Stereotyped natives and mzungu heroes have given way to more complex takes on the continent. The Last King of Scotland and Blood Diamond both captured something about the feel of the place while offering a serious look at Africa and its problems. Blood Diamond, in […]
IFJ report on media staff killed in 2008
The International Federation of Journalists released its annual report today on the number of media workers killed during 2008. While the numbers fell in 2008, there has been a spate of killings since the beginning of 2009, “The welcome relief brought about by the decline in the killings of journalists in 2008 has been shot […]
Deputy head of police murdered
Murders and assassinations are nothing new or surprising here although it’s been some time since we’ve had one as high profile as tonight. In what sounds like a contract hit, the deputy head of police was shot three times in the head outside his apartment in the center of Yerevan. The Prosecutor-General as well as the heads […]
Gaza media coverage – ‘You can’t cover a war from one hill’
I’ve been writing another chapter of the PhD over the last month and I find it’s all too easy to get distracted, so I pursue a ‘close all unnecessary tabs in browser’ policy. This means there’s less blogging but I do get some ‘real work’ done! The other day I finally got a chance to […]
Austria’s New Right
The following comes from a trip I made in October, 2008.I’ve just returned from Vienna, Austria to do a story about the resurgence of the far right in the country. As you may have heard, the two parties fronted by Hans Christian Strache and Jorg Haider managed to win 29 percent of the vote in the […]
Muhajiriya
So first up, well done Unamid. Khartoum has asked the hybrid AU-UN peacekeeping force to pull out of Muhajiriya so its armed forces can bomb and burn the town at will. And Unamid has said no, we’re staying. But to do what? So far the hybrid force has done precisely nothing to prevent attacks by […]
14 journalists killed in January
The Press Emblem Campaign called for protection of journalists around the world on Monday. The Geneva based watchdog highlighted recent harassment and assassinations in Sri Lanka and the lack of media access to the Gaza Strip, Four journalists were killed in the Gaza Strip, along with two in Russia and another two in Venezuela. In […]
Youth protest against bullfighting in Mexico City
Young animal rights activists took to the streets in central Mexico City on Sunday, chanting “Corridas de toros — vergüenza nacional (bullfights — a national shame).” They were protesting the hundreds of bullfights that take place here in Mexico. The march was attended by about 800 people, most of them in their late teens or […]
Back to Sudan Blog test
Among the numerous things I need to do before setting off for South Sudan tomorrow is to set up this blog for Frontline. So I’ll just see how this turns out
Somalia’s Best Chance of Peace
Funny how things work out. Two years ago Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was on the run from an Ethiopian assault that had snatched Mogadishu from the Islamists who ran the city peacefully for six months. America had given its tacit support to the strike, fearing that Somalia was about to become a haven for al […]
Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna launch 4th Ambulante documentary festival in Mexico
Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, two of Mexico’s most bankable movie stars, launched the fourth annual Ambulante documentary film festival Friday morning in a packed cinema screening room on Mexico City’s Paseo de la Reforma. Garcia Bernal, star of films such as The Motorcycle Diaries and the current Mexico hit movie Rudo y Cursi […]
LIVE – Sean Langan and the Taliban
Click To Play Sean Langan will be talking about his Taliban kidnap experiences with award-winning foreign correspondent Sam Kiley at the Frontline Club tonight. Sean, a Frontline Club member and Channel 4 Dispatches journalist, was kidnapped in early 2008 and held hostage for three months. We start at 7pm GMT / 11am PST Fri 30 […]
Meanwhile… in other shoes
Al Zeidi, the now infamous journalist who threw his shoes at outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush, is honoured in artistic fibreglass and copper in Tikrit this week. Artist Laith al Amari has created a giant shoe in honour of Al Zeidi and the Iraqi people. The sculpture is inscribed with a poem paying tribute […]
The Falklanders: Sheiks of the South Atlantic?
Early evening chatter in the Victory bar in Port Stanley used to touch on squid hauls and cruise liner schedules. Now, as the locals sip on imported pints of British beer, a far more lucrative proposition is grabbing their attention: oil. According to the latest seismic surveys, the Falkland Islands are sitting on an estimated […]
David LaChapelle makes Mexican debut
David LaChapelle, the surrealist photographer, launched his first-ever show in Mexico City last night in a media scrum that resembled one of his chaotic images. The American photographer, who has made his name photographing celebrities in bizarre settings, was accompanied by Amanda Lepore, the American transsexual icon, during the press conference in Mexico City’s Hotel […]
They’re Under Starter’s Orders
William Hill is sadly not running a book on tomorrow’s Somali presidential election. So for what it’s worth, here are tomorrow’s runners 3/1jf Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed – went down heavily a couple of years back but is out to prove he knows the course better than anyone 3/1jf Nur Adde – runs in the […]
Reporting the Mexico border
Angela Kocherga talks to Poynter about the dangers of reporting from Mexico, particularly around the border cities of Juárez where drug crime and killing are rife, How difficult is it for you, as a journalist, to do your job in Mexico? I assume journalists feel constantly threatened as they cover stories about killings and crime. […]
The Fixers Fund
If you’ve nipped into the Frontline Club recently you might have noticed the Fixers Fund gift donation envelopes, on the stairs, at the bar and in the forum. We’ve also put together a short video explaining more about the fund and how it was started following the murder of Ajmal Naqshbandi. Afghan journalist and fixer […]
The ultimate frontline camera
You’ve got until February 3rd to bid for the above on eBay. The ‘Paillard Bolex H8 Military Gun outfit’ is possibly the most bizarre camera you’re ever likely to come across. The blurb on the online auction site says it’s a “Very interesting and Rare military Gun outfit delivered for Vietnam War reporter” Was it […]
Armenia narrowly avoids PACE sanctions
Armenia yesterday earned a brief reprieve from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) when a resolution to impose sanctions was voted down by a large margin following promises to make amendments to the Criminal Code. The two articles in question refer to attempts to "usurp state authority by force" and organize "mass […]
Video: First soup kitchens opened in Mexico City as global economic crisis hits
The growing economic crisis has prompted the Mexico City government to launch its first ever soup kitchens for the city’s multitude of poor citizens, who are finding it increasingly difficult to feed their families due to surging food prices. Given Mexico’s high level of endemic poverty, it is perhaps most surprising that the city government […]
Spoiled crybabies
So, all those Foreign correspondents who couldn’t get into Gaza despite the Israeli Supreme court ruling and many, many attempts are nothing but a bunch of “spoiled crybabies”. That’s the word according to Daniel Seaman, director of Israel’s Government Press Office in a statement issued on Sunday, “Israel did not want to endanger the lives […]
Lunar New Year in Mexico City
The Year of the Ox, the new Chinese lunar year, begins today, and Mexico City’s Chinese community spent the weekend celebrating. On Friday and Saturday, downtown’s Plaza de la Republica played host to a festival showcasing Chinese food and culture, dance and martial arts. And on Saturday, the party took to the streets in a […]
