News
Kosovo nine years on
In another superb multimedia presentation, writer Nicholas Wood and photographer Andrew Testa of the New York Times talk about the war in Kosovo that began nearly nine years ago and how the legacy continues today on the verge of the country’s independence.
Dogs not people
It’s easier to get a dog out of Iraq than it is to get an Iraqi out. Ex-Washington Post Baghdad bureau chief, Ellen Knickmeyer, tells the story of how she got her dog out of Baghdad, We all try to pretend day-to-day that our differences of nationality, race and class don’t matter to us, but […]
The Geography of Bliss
The New York Times prints the first chapter of Eric Weiner’s new book, The Geography Of Bliss: Why Is That Land Smiling? In it he explores ten of the most, and least, contented countries of the world. As foreign correspondent for NPR, he’s seen his fair share of both, As a foreign correspondent for National […]
OBE for George Alagiah
Among the Kylie Minogues and the Michael Parkinsons of the Queen’s New Year Honours list is George Alagiah, the BBC news presenter, foreign correspondent and Frontline Club member. George receives an OBE. He has reported on the genocide in Rwanda, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and from the war zones of Iraq, Liberia, Sierra Leone […]
Foreign correspondent or spy?
It’s a bit of a cliché, but if a new book, Berlin and Beyond, is to be believed some foreign correspondents do indeed make great spies. Well, at least one of them did. Soon after Anthony Terry died in 1992, stepdaughter Judith Lenart was clearing out his desk when she discovered a bundle of letters […]
John Moore in Rawalpindi
The New York Times uses a combination of images, audio and text to rapidly create a very powerful and informative multimedia report from Getty’s John Moore who was at the scene of Benazir Bhutto’s assasination in Rawalpindi yesterday. via Ben
Benazir Bhutto 1953 – 2007
[video:brightcove:1111466957] Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, was assasinated earlier today in Rawalpindi. Six months ago, at the Frontline Club, she was interviewed by George Arney of the BBC World Servive about the future for her country.
Postage stamp journalists
The American Postal service recently announced its 2008 range of stamps. A number of American foreign correspondents will appear on next year’s stamps, Martha Gellhorn, who covered the Spanish Civil War, World War II and the Vietnam War in a long career that broke new ground for women; John Hersey, whose most famous work, “Hiroshima,” […]
Reporting Iraq
Vivienne Walt, Judith Matloff and Christopher Allbritton interview some 50 journalists who have worked extensively in Iraq for the book called Reporting Iraq. The Statesman reviews the book, The psychological toll of war reporting is often forgotten or denied, even by journalists themselves. In “Reporting Iraq,” Anne Garrels of NPR confesses, “I still have nightmares, […]
Kelly Kennedy in Adhamiya
Amy Goodman at Democracy Now interviews Kelly Kennedy, a staff writer with the Army Times, about breaking the story of mutiny among the ranks of Charlie company in Adhamiya, a district in northeastern Baghdad, I hope that the story would show people exactly what soldiers in Iraq are dealing with. I’m not sure Americans understand […]
Lamb gets a gong
In awards news… the 2007 “What the papers say” awards are announced today and for the second year running the Sunday Times Foreign correspondent, and Frontline Club founding member, Christina Lamb has won the award for Foreign correspondent of the year. Well done Christina and here’s the full list of award winners. As it’s Christmas, […]
Top underreported stories of 2007
It’s nearly the end of the year, it must be list time. Medecins Sans Frontieres release their tenth annual top ten list of stories they think journalists don’t report enough on and readers don’t get to read enough about. Here’s the list. Or see a quick view of the list below, 1. Displaced fleeing war […]
Is this the best front page story ever?
Frontline Club Founder member Ben Hammersley emails to say he thinks it is and I’m inclined to agree with him, On December 14th [on page 1A of the Lewiston Tribune] ran two substantial photos: In one, a husky man in a black-and-blue checkered coat is seen hanging Christmas decorations in a shop window. In the […]
Natalia Morari has her say
Last week Moldovan journalist Natalia Morari, who works for New Times Magazine, was barred entry from Russia on orders of the Federal Security Service FSB and sent back to the Moldovan capital Chisinau. Former journalist and Human Rights campaigner Grigory Pasko interviews her on the Robert Amsterdam blog
Story of the scarf
When journalist, and author of In the Red Zone, Steve Vincent was killed by gunmen in Basra, his translator Nour Khal kept the blood stained yellow scarf she was wearing at the time they were both shot. She survived and now Khal and the scarf reside in Manhattan with Vincent’s widow, Lisa Ramaci. The LA […]
Drawing Jihad
“Get that negative energy out on the paper,” urges Awad Alyami waving his arms like an orchestra conductor. The objects of his exhortation – eight convicted jihadi warriors – sit at a long table clutching pastel crayons, as intent as children in a kindergarten. Each of these young men has served prison time for terror-related […]
Stay Alert
[video:youtube:BM171IMYuKc] Recently released promovid from the rather good Reuters AlertNet service. Great for “news before it’s news” with over 400 aid agencies contributing. If you don’t already use the service, it’s certainly worth a look. via IJNet
Win a bag
The good folk at Journalism.co.uk enter the seasonal spirit with a win a bag competition for journalists – not just any bag, not just any competition. Entrants will need to demonstrate, evidence of innovative online multimedia use to deliver a piece of journalism – relating in some way to travel. It could be a piece […]
Freedom of the press
The BBC World Service celebrates its 75th birthday today. On the Free to speak site radio page there is a discussion on the role of the service in the future, in today’s rapidly changing media landscape what does the BBC World Service have to do to ensure its future? What does it have to do […]
Inside Out – January 2008
When we began recruiting members to the Frontline Club, we were often told that it would never work. After all, the sceptics said, why would you want to become part of a club that catered to war journalists and ex-hacks who would bore you with their tales of near death experiences? Four years later and […]
A painful birth
Eight years after the war finished, Kosovo wears its poverty on its sleeve. The capital Pristina is an eye-sore. The place is strewn with refuse. Its streets are clogged with rubble and double-parked cars. UN has done nothing to invigorate its stagnant economy. The spirit of the place, however, could not be more different. There […]
One Soldier’s War in Chechnya
It was with some pleasurable anticipation that I awaited this book from the Frontline’s Books Editor. He wanted “a soldier to review a soldier’s book.” When it arrived, I did what I do with all books before starting to read it in earnest: examine the cover, look at the photos, check for maps. This volume […]
Cobra Gold
My heart sank when confronted with this book. Ever since Andy McNab (not his real name) made it big with his SAS tales, a plethora of former SAS veterans has published fictional accounts of their lives and times in Afghanistan/Iraq/Oman/you-name-it. Like celebrity biographies, their tomes dominate shelf space in the lower-end bookshops. I have nothing […]
John D. McHugh on the BBC
Frontline club member, photographer, occasional club speaker and sniper bullet survivor John D.McHugh is back in Afghanistan and he’s interviewed about his return on this week’s BBC Radio Pods & Blogs show. You can listen to the show here or, go one better, and subscribe to the excellent podcast. The show has some Frontline club […]
A disappearing way of life
[video:youtube:hIxCbMcHAQQ] “This is a disppaearing way of life,” says former Times editor Martin Fletcher as he promotes his forthcoming book, “Breaking News: A Stunning and Memorable Account of Reporting from Some of the Most Dangerous Places in the World”, via YouTube. The book documents 35 years on a journey “from clueless young adventurer… to grizzled […]
Strange games and bridges
Jocelyne Saab started out as a war reporter in 1975 before turning her hand to fiction and feature films in 1985 with her first film, Suspended Life. She talks with NewIndPress at the International Film Festival of Kerala about her work as a war reporter and her more recent artistic endeavours with “Strange Games and […]
Mexicans On Ice
Another commission from the Los Angeles Times, this time their first video blog news item on the ice rink in the Zocalo, Mexico. Click here to watch the movie.
Richard Engel wins a duPont
Richard Engel wins a duPont Award for his MSNBC War Zone Diary which aims to give an insider’s look at the life of a war correspondent in Iraq. The 2008 duPont awards, which were announced today, were originally established in 1942 and are widely considered to be the broadcast equivalent of the Pulitzer Prizes. A […]
Gwen Le Gouil seized in Somalia
Reuters reports that negotiations are underway today in Somalia for the release of French cameraman Gwen Le Gouil abducted on Sunday. He was working in the northern Puntland region on a human trafficking story, “The negotiations are underway this morning,” said Jean Laurent, a colleague of Le Gouil’s in Nairobi from their small TV company […]
Inside the Surge ends
[video:youtube:OBu3AJF52Is] Snappers Tom Van Dyke and Kuni Takahashi working for the Chicago Tribune on a multi-part series from Iraq called Inside the Surge were in for a bit of surprise when they returned to Baghdad last month. They were no longer wanted. Sunday’s edition of the Tribune has more, The Tribune was told that questions […]
