News
Under the Wire: In conversation with Paul Conroy
By Anna Reitman Photojournalist and filmmaker Paul Conroy joined Channel 4 News’ international editor Lindsey Hilsum at the Frontline Club on 6 June, to give a personal account of his experiences in Syria, detailed in his new book Under the wire: Marie Colvin’s Final Assignment. Encouraged by his friends, Conroy wrote the book as he recovered […]
Published: Newsgathering Safety and the Welfare of Freelancers
Today we are pleased to announce the publication of our white paper, Newsgathering Safety and the Welfare of Freelancers. A year ago, we invited freelancers, editors, managers, trainers and safety advisors to come together and discuss the issues of safety in the field. Since then, professionals from across the industry have been collaborating and sharing their experiences […]
Will the Arab Spring stretch to Iran after election day?
by Sally Ashley-Cound With just over a week to go until Iranians go to the polls to vote for a new president, the Frontline Club’s First Wednesday panel on 5 June discussed the question: who will be the next president of Iran and why does it matter?
El Gusto: the “people’s music”
By Ratha Lehall On Tuesday 4 June, The Frontline Club hosted a screening of El Gusto. Despite a 6-hour flight delay and a broken ankle, director Safinez Bousbia made it up to the Frontline Club just in time for a lively Q&A. The film follows Bousbia on her journey to reunite a group of around 30 Jewish and Muslim Chaabi musicians, […]
State Builders: the making of South Sudan
By Richard Nield On 31 May, the Frontline Club hosted a screening of State Builders, a unique film documenting the immense challenges faced by the new state of South Sudan, which became the world’s newest nation on 9 July 2011. Directed by Florence Martin-Kessler and Anne Poiret, the film gives a penetrating insight into what was […]
Meet the Director: Safinez Bousbia and El Gusto Orchestra
By Nick Dyson Filmmaker Safinez Bousbia describes El Gusto as “the story of a group of musicians – Jews and Muslims – torn apart by history and brought together today by music”. In reality it took more than music alone to bring these musicians back together; rather the director’s own extraordinary efforts over a two […]
Interested in the Iranian election? Make sure you’re at the Frontline Club in June
On 14 June Iranians will go to to the polls to vote for a new president. The last presidential election in 2009 saw mass protest on the streets, resulting in a violent crackdown. Throughout June, in association with BBC Persian, we will be joined by experts, journalists and commentators to make sure you are up […]
Reflections with Alex Thomson
By Caroline Schmitt ‘Reflections’ at the Frontline Club brings well known journalists to the stage to look back on their careers. Incorporating video clips, still images and articles selected by them, the host Vin Ray describes it as “a cross between Desert Island Discs and This is your Life”. It is held in association with the BBC […]
Writing Revolution: The Voices from Tunis to Damascus
By Helena Williams On Tuesday 29 May, the Frontline Club showcased ‘Writing Revolution: the Voices from Tunis to Damascus’, a book which celebrates some of the best new writing to emerge from the Arab Spring. The collection of articles and essays focusses on what the revolutions, which have rumbled across North Africa and the Middle […]
Club Quiz 16th May
The Frontline Club Quiz returned on Thursday the 16th of May, and was a resounding success with hundreds of pounds raised for the Fixers Fund. ‘The Orchestras’ were victorious by half a point, and won some fine wines courtesy of our drinks sponsors Chivas. The Quiz will return once more next month, so if you think you can compete enter a team today.
Orania is not for sissies!
By Pete Ford Director Tobias Lindner brought his fascinating documentary Orania to a packed Frontline Club on Monday 20 May. Described as “a remote village in the barren centre of South Africa – an ‘intentional community’ where only white Afrikans people live”, Orania is relatively unknown globally. But Lindner, a German who has spent long enough […]
Shorts at the Frontline Club: a cinematic journey around the world
By George Symonds On Friday 17th May, a series of short films curated by the Frontline Club took the audience on a cinematic journey from Sarajevo to Prague, to Kabul, Aleppo and Moscow. We started in Sarajevo with The Fuse: or How I Burned Simon Bolivar, directed by Igor Drljača. “Dear God, I don’t know if you exist. My […]
Nic Dunlop on not trusting photography alone and a brave new Burma
By Sally Ashley-Cound Bangkok-based photographer Nic Dunlop, in conversation with BBC foreign correspondent Fergal Keane, previewed his new book Brave New Burma at the Frontline Club on Wednesday 15th May. Twenty years in the making, Brave New Burma explores the country from the ongoing civil war to its deceptively tranquil cities, using both photographs and words […]
Russia’s surveillance state
by Anna Reitman Cold war politics have never seemed more relevant in the 21st century. Relations between the US and Russia are reaching new lows over geopolitical hot spots while the White House dodges questions about the detainment in Moscow of an alleged CIA recruiting agent. These might seem like old stories, but a decidedly […]
Bradley Manning on trial: A case for or against his country?
By Jim Treadway In 2010 U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning committed the largest security breach in US history, handing the classified Afghan War Diary, Iraq War Logs, and 250,000 State Department cables to Wikileaks. Imagery like that of an American helicopter team gunning down citizens and journalists on a Baghdad street in 2007 has been […]
Tackling impunity
By Alex Glynn Stark facts and personal tales of attacks on the press took the centre stage at the Frontline Club on Wednesday 8th May, in a session chaired by BBC Global News director Peter Horrocks
One World Echoes in London
One World Echoes in London is a series of human rights film screenings supported by by the Czech Centre London. Celebrating the 15th anniversary of One World, Europe´s largest human rights film festival established in Prague in 1998 by the Czech NGO People in Need. This series offers a selection of extraordinary documentary films exploring societies and […]
Top 14 tips for secure mobile communications
Mobile networks in even the most benign democracies are required by law to build monitoring systems into their infrastructure. The powers that be can then use this data in a number of ways, ranging from disclosure, where historical records are released under a government request, to real time interception of location, numbers called and when you […]
Netanyahu in China, London conference on Somalia, US-South Korean talks, and Pakistan elections – the world next week
By Jasper Wenban-Smith, International Editor, Foresight News A round up of world news in the week ahead from journalist resource ForesightNews. Monday 6 May The high-profile trial in Germany of Beate Zschäpe, an alleged member of a group called the National Socialist Underground (NSU), is due to open on Monday in Munich. Zschäpe and four […]
Pakistan elections: a critical juncture
By Nishat Ahmed As Pakistan gears up for crucial general elections in just over a week, on 1 May the Frontline Club hosted a panel discussion, First Wednesday: Pakistan goes to the polls, to consider the country’s prospects. The panelists on the evening were journalist and author Irfan Husain, Pir Zubair Shah of the Council on Foreign […]
Committee to Protect Journalists – Global Campaign Against Impunity
Speak Justice: Voices Against Impunity is a global campaign powered by Committee to Protect Journalists to tackle impunity. Find out more about the campaign HERE. Elisabeth Witchel from CPJ and others will be joining us on Wednesday 8 May to discuss the level of the problem and the work being done to combat it. Details HERE.
Greenland holds its breath: the duality of change
By Lizzie Kendal On Monday 29 April, the Frontline Club hosted a screening of The Village at the End of the World, followed by a Q&A with director Sarah Gavron (Brick Lane, 2007). “They say in Greenland that they’re holding their breath about their future,” she explained as she introduced the film, which explores the challenges […]
Reporters Without Borders – World Press Freedom Index 2013
Reporters Without Borders has released the World Press Freedom Index for 2013. Download the report HERE. On Wednesday 8 May following World Press Freedom Day we will be discussing the challenges to press freedom we have seen in the past year and in particular the problem of impunity. Details HERE.
Is North Korea the ticking bomb we thought it to be?
By Alex Glynn Analysts and experts treated the audience to rare accounts and informed insight into the North Korean regime’s mindset on Tuesday 15th April at the Frontline Club. BBC East Asia Editor Charles Scanlon hosted the discussion on the hot topic of North Korea’s threat – is it imminent, or is it overstated? – with former British Ambassador […]
Iran: Crackdowns and power struggles
By Laura Hughes On 24th April 2013, the Frontline Club hosted a discussion on Iran’s political system in the lead up to the country’s elections in June. Azadeh Moaveni, former Middle East correspondent for Time magazine, hosted the panel of Iranian experts.
A live issue: Tamil oppression in Sri Lanka
by Sally Ashley-Cound On 23rd April 2013, The Frontline Club held the first UK preview screening of award winning television director Callum Macrae’s new documentary, No Fire Zone – The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka. No Fire Zone uses forensically verified footage from civilian mobile phones and government forces cameras to chronicle the last 138 […]
Gay marriage bill vote in France, Navalny trial in Russia, and US growth data – world week ahead
By Jasper Wenban-Smith, International Editor, Foresight News A round up of world news in the week ahead from journalist resource ForesightNews. Monday April 22 Foreign Ministers from the European Union, including British Foreign Secretary William Hague, meet in Luxembourg on Monday. Among other things, they are expected to agree to lift remaining sanctions […]
Creating a new society: Russia from 1960 to 1990 and beyond
by Sally Ashley-Cound On Thursday 18th April at the Frontline Club, authors Irina Prokhorova and Oliver Bullough talked about their experiences of Russia which have informed the research and writing of their two very different books. Prokhorova’s book 1990: Russians Remember a Turning Point charts the missing year after 1989 when the Soviet empire fell […]
The future of British journalism: “We are not diminishing, we are growing.”
By Caroline Schmitt A reception and two discussions about the future of British journalism was held at the Fronline Club on April 17, 2013. Sam Coates, Banking Editor at The Times, hosted the first panel of young journalists and addressed the audience of representatives of 35 of the country’s best student papers: “I wanna give […]
