Frontline Club bloggers
“Che, the Argentine” premieres in Mexico City
There were no rabble-rousing speeches, but Ernesto “Che” Guevara, the film version, was greeted by an eager audience at the nearly full Julio Bracho cinema, which hosted the premier of the first part of Steven Soderbergh’s long-awaited portrait of the Argentine revolutionary last night. “Che, the Argentine,” got its first Mexican screening on the sprawling […]
Gaza media coverage – BBC bits and bobs
Just a couple of other things I picked up today from the BBC. 1. Here’s Robin Lustig’s blog again, writing from a point of view on Gaza. “You want to know what it’s like in Gaza at the moment? It’s Hell on earth. But that’s nothing new – it’s always Hell on earth here. Since […]
Catching Up
Back from holiday and now trying to catch up on email, phone messages and blog posts that I missed during the past fortnight. Meskel Square offers a guide to Sudan’s year ahead The wildcards The International Criminal Court This is the only thing people are talking and thinking about in Sudan right now. What will […]
Sex for food
The financial crisis touches us all in different ways. Job losses, mounting personal debts and cancelled holidays are all part of the reality for the year ahead. For Argentina’s poor, the reality is even starker. Kids busking at red lights or juggling on the metro is common enough. People going through the rubbish (known as […]
And then they came for me
Lasantha Wickrematunge, the editor of the Sri Lanka newspaper The Sunday Leader who was murdered on Sunday, wrote his own farewell letter days before he was murdered. I blogged about his brutal murder on 8 January, but I am posting his final editorial in full here, No other profession calls on its practitioners to lay […]
And then they came for me
Lasantha Wickrematunge, the editor of the Sri Lanka newspaper The Sunday Leader who was murdered on Sunday, wrote his own farewell letter days before he was murdered. I blogged about his brutal murder on 8 January, but I am posting his final editorial in full here, No other profession calls on its practitioners to lay […]
Inside the Gaza tunnels
Two journalists, one living in Gaza and one living in Israel, work together to produce a report on the tunnels that link Egypt and Gaza, Zouheir Alnajjar, a Collective Journalism contributor who lives in Gaza, and Jaron Gilinsky, a CJ Contributor living in Israel, show us two inside perspectives on the war in Gaza. Their […]
Lydia Cacho publishes manual for parents on detecting child abuse
Lydia Cacho’s celebrity was apparent from the get-go last Thursday night in the trendy Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City, where the journalist launched her new book “Not With My Child” (Con Mi Hij@ No). When your humble correspondent arrived for the launch at the beautiful bookshop Libreria Rosario Castellanos, the raven-haired writer was posing for […]
Video: Mexico’s pawn culture kicks in around the holidays
Ester Ruiz Ramirez, 56, stood in line for hours in downtown Mexico City yesterday to hock a ring and some earrings given to her by her children. “I need the money to pay for my grandchild’s school fees,” she said. Ruiz is one of an expected 800,000 people who will turn to el Nacional Monte […]
Video: Mexicans enjoy the bread of kings – with cream on top
Pasteleria Suiza in the trendy Condesa neighborhood in Mexico City put its own spin on the traditional Rosca de Reyes. The bakery stuffs the oval-shaped cake, eaten by Mexicans on January 6th to remember the Three Wise Men, with a delicious, sweet cream. Hundreds of Mexicans flock to the shop to buy the Roscas, which […]
Violence against journalists in Mexico exaggerated, says top prosecutor
Violence against journalists in Mexico is not as high as non-profit groups are reporting, said a top Mexican prosecutor yesterday. Mexican media are reporting this morning that Octavio Orellano, head of the part of the Attorney General’s office dedicated to investigating crimes against journalists, said during the presentation of his annual report that there were […]
Mexico should pay attention to International Anti-Corruption Day
Mexicans might be encouraged to do a bit of soul-searching today by a United Nations campaign, which has declared December 9th International Anti-Corruption Day. Why should Mexico be particularly interested? Because, as we reported today, more than 5,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence so far this year – that’s more than double the […]
Uma Singh hacked to death in Nepal
Uma Singh, a 26 year old Nepalese journalist who worked for a local radio station in Janakpur in western Nepal, was hacked to death when a group of 15 men entered the room she rented in a house on Sunday night. The attack happened in full view of other residents. Singh had a history of […]
Media should be abolished from reporting
I really do not know what to say about this guy… Why don’t we all just give up and go home? Joe the plumber/war correspondent/all round idiot says War is no place for journalists. You’ve got to admit, this is probably the first, the last and the only time you’ll ever hear a “war correspondent” […]
Beverly Giesbrecht ransom deal reported
According to unnamed sources in English-language Pakistani News International, a ransom demand of $150,000 has been made for the release of Canadian journalist Beverly Giesbrecht, also known as Khadija Abdul Qahaar, who was kidnapped in Pakistan in November 2008.
Ala Mortaji killed in Gaza as media outlets targetted
Ala Mortaji, a radio journalist in Gaza, has died on Friday from wounds sustained when Israeli tanks fired at his home in Zaitoun district of Gaza City, Mortaji is the third journalist to be killed in the Israeli violence in Gaza, he worked as a radio broadcast personality in Gaza on a local radio show. […]
Palestinian camerman Ihab Al-Wahidi killed in Gaza
Ihab Al-Wahidi, a Palestinian journalist based in Gaza, was reportedly killed on Thursday after two tank shells hit his apartment in the Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood south of Gaza City. Wahidi was employed by Palestine TV and has previously worked as Yasser Arrafat’s cameraman. His mother and wife were also killed in the attack.(UPDATE: The IFJ […]
Gaza media coverage – official sources and numbers
Journalists like using ‘official sources’ of information. The theory (take a look at Herbert Gans among others) is that (in a democracy) government spokespeople, the police, officials, press officers etc are more useful to a journalist than other sources. They have access to information, are able to find out data, know people that know people, […]
Lasantha Wickramatunga shot dead in Colombo
Lasantha Wickramatunga, editor of popular Sri Lankan newspaper The Sunday Leader, has been shot dead as he drove to work in the capital Colombo. The editor, whose newspaper sub header reads “Unbowed And Unafraid”, had often been critical of the government. In his last editorial he said, Winning the war? Then there must be elections […]
Gaza media coverage – war 2.0, social media and cyberwar
War 2.0 Adrian Monck assesses Israel’s online propaganda operation. He notes: “Back in January 2008, 26 IDF ‘combat cameramen’ held a fortnight long exercise with US military camera teams, and were “drilled in the use of wireless image transmission technology.” Which is interesting. You can’t help but think that the IDF must have had a […]
Global Post looks to engage bloggers
Global Post, a new online news agency, is set to launch on Monday, January 12. The site claims it has 60+ foreign correspondents ready to report from 40+ countries in text, pictures and video. They plan to begin by trying to answer the question: “What does Obama mean to the World?” Charles Sennott, a Frontline […]
Joe the War Correspondent
Joe the Plumber, who shot to fame when he questioned President elect barrack Obama about his tax plans, is heading to Israel. Yes, Joe the plumber is embarking upon a new career as… a war correspondent with the conservative website pjtv.com. Don’t believe me, watch the video above and read on, Dubbed “Joe the Plumber” […]
Azerbaijan bans foreign broadcasts while preparing for a constitutional referendum
In the last days of 2008, Azerbaijan’s National Council for Television and Radio has banned international radio stations from broadcasting on national frequencies. The decision went effective on the 1st of January removing three radio stations from FM band – VOA, BBC and Azadliq (“Liberty”), RFE/RL’s Azeri service. With another decision, Parliament of Azerbaijan approved […]
Gaza media coverage – BBC and blogs
My research looks at how the BBC reports war and terrorism and specifically whether blogs make any difference to the way they do it. So here’s a rough ‘this-is-what-I’ve-found-first-time-round’ draft of how the BBC is using blogs to report from Gaza. Editors’ blog On the Editors’ blog, James Stephenson has written a post on Reporting […]
For the truth to get out, journalists have to get in
Journalists still can’t get into Gaza. The Israeli government have banned media access to the war torn strip. The result for foreign reporters, on the 11th day of this war, is that hundreds of them sit at border points waiting to be granted access by Israeli authorities. The ban flies in the face of a […]
The Gaza fixer
Raed Atharmneh works as a fixer in the Gaza strip. Al Jazeera put together a documentary about him in 2007. It’s a timely reminder of the work of fixers and journalists in Gaza at a time when many media outlets can’t even access Gaza to report on the war. You can watch part one above […]
Gaza media coverage – alternative voices and blogs
News channels rely on far too few Israeli sources and do not represent the diversity of opinion on the conflict in Gaza, according to Jeff who commented on yesterday’s post: “There seems to be clear inconsistencies regarding the voices from Israel that are often heard on news channels vis-a-vis those which await adequate attention. It […]
The cost of reporting Zimbabwe
Fifty Billion Dollars, originally uploaded by ZeroOne. The Zimbabwe government has announced new restrictive measures for media workers working with foreign news organisations. It will cost up to US$4 000 to practice journalism in Zimbabwe for one year, according to a report in The Zimbabwe Times. Here is a list of the new fees announced […]
Gaza media coverage – the propaganda war
As Israel continues its incursion into the Gaza Strip in response to recent rocket attacks by Hamas, there has already been some interesting discussion about media coverage of the conflict. A few days ago one of my colleagues at King’s posted a piece about the increasing strategic importance of the media in conflict. Citing a […]
Colin Freeman on being free
Colin Freeman talks on the Daily Telegraph today about his kidnap experience in Somalia. He sounds in good spirits as he discusses being a free man again after his six week ordeal. He’s looking forward to a decent pint and trying to give up the smoking habit he picked up in the caves of Somalia, […]
