News
John Moore on Pakistan
[video:brightcove:1593364051] John Moore talks about his work at the Frontline Club. The photographer has worked in Pakistan for over two years and was present when Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. He is interviewed by Frontline Club member Christina Lamb.
Abdul Samad Rohani killed in Lashkar Gah
BBC journalist Abdul Samad Rohani was found shot dead in Lashkar Gah in southern Helmand province, Afghanistan today, A BBC statement said Rohani’s “bravery – and that of his colleagues – have allowed us to tell a key story for audiences in the UK, in Afghanistan and around the world”. It added: “His death is […]
Nasteh Dahir killed in Somalia
Nasteh Dahir was killed in Somalia yesterday. The local journalist worked for the BBC and the AP. The National Union of Somali Journalists called it a “targeted assasination”. Our man Rob Crilly has more, Those of us who flit in and out of Somalia owe a heck of a lot to the courage of the […]
Somali Journalist Killed
Another journalist has been killed in Somalia. Nasteh Dahir Farah, who worked for the BBC and AP, was shot dead by gunmen in the port city of Kismayo over the weekend. He is the 10th journalist to be killed in Somalia since February 2007. Farah had written about the dangers of reporting from Somalia in […]
Foreign minister’s memorial
Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland’s Foreign minister, is in Afghanistan agreeing aid deals with Hamid Karzai’s government. He also unveiled a plaque in honour of his friend, Andy Skrzypkowiak, a British war correspondent who was killed in 1987. Back then Sikorski was himself a war correspondent, ‘I have the feeling I’m paying off a debt to my […]
Wadah Khanfar to deliver Guardian keynote
Wadah Khanfar, the director general of al-Jazeera, will be giving the keynote speech at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival in August. He’ll be focussing on the superficial, immediate and unfiltered reporting that plagues what is called news coverage today, He will expand on his belief that international journalism is in need of a serious […]
Refugee status for Iraqi journalists
The Iraqi staff of McClatchy Newspapers in the Baghdad bureau ponder the news that Iraqis working for US media organisations will be considered for a refugee programme, But one question kept coming up again and again. “How will we be treated there?” “Do they discriminate against Muslims?” “Will my wife have a hard time because […]
Who Are Somalia’s Al Shabab?
Two years ago an alliance of moderate Islamic Courts ruled Mogadishu and much of Somalia. Then Ethiopia, fearing a stable and prosperous Somalia — and hungry for access to Somalia’s ports — destroyed the Islamic Courts and propped up the unpopular Transitional Federal Government. Islamic insurgents rose up to challenge Ethiopian and TFG troops. But […]
You Couldn’t Make it Up
The Queen’s Birthday Party went off well last night, according to my sources with diplomatic plates. The usual embassy folks, hacks and politicians crammed into the garden of the British High Commissioner’s residence for mini fish and chips washed down with Boddingtons. It’s the social event of the year for Nairobi’s British contingent. (I had […]
Africa Reading Challenge – 3. A Bend in the River by VS Naipaul
When Salim leaves his home on Africa’s ocean coast to take over a small trading shop deep in the continent’s interior he embarks on an adventure that marks his coming of age – in stark contrast to the progress of his adopted country, which is stuck in an endless cycle of upheaval. The town at […]
dispatches set for launch
Dispatches, the new current affairs journal, launches at the Frontline Club tomorrow night – Friday 6 June at 8pm. It’s a quarterly publication focussing on global issues, in-depth reportage and superb photography. You are all invited to the launch, so come along if you can make it, Gary Knight, Simba Gill and Mort Rosenblum would […]
Cowboy defence analysts
Media watchers in Sri Lanka were on the ragged end of some severe criticism from the government’s Ministry of Defence today. The Khaleej Times has more, ‘We do not mind any person trying to make his living by writing whatever crap to the newspapers. Yet, we too have our right to lay bare the truth […]
Fighting for peace
zoriah_graffiti_latrine_toilette_soldier_war_iraq_diary, originally uploaded by Zoriah. Zoriah is a photojournalist reporting from Kuwait and into Iraq. He’s using a blog to document his work and some of the quirkier sights he encounters. For example, the toilets stalls on Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, Photography in Ali Al Salem is strictly forbidden, but I […]
Chad Rebels’ Last Chance
Chad’s rainy season is coming. With the exception of U.N. and E.U. aircraft, transportation in the barren country will most grind to a halt. That means the U.N. must rush to get newly arrived refugees — from Darfur and the Central African Republic — settled into their camps. It also means that Chad’s rebel groups, […]
Open Tibet to journalists
Reporters without borders calls on China to extend the apparent openness following the recent earthquake in Sichuan province to reporters working in Tibet, “The government is allowing the foreign media a remarkable and unprecedented level of freedom in Sichuan,” Reporters Without Borders said. “It should be extended to the Tibetan regions which the international press […]
Doug Schmidt outside the wire
Doug Schmidt will spend six weeks filing stories from the frontline in Afghanistan. He’ll be reporting for the Canadian newspaper, The Windsor Star, and blogging on his Outside the Wire blog.
Dreams from Kogelo
Granny Sarah and a calendar featuring her grandson as she celebrates Obama’s victory over Clinton Must confess to one of those moments when I lose my cynicism and suddenly find myself going a bit misty eyed. Have done my best in the past to try to debunk the Obama myth by pointing out his family […]
Picture blogging to support the troops
I try to read a fair few blogs so every now and then it’s refreshing not to have to trawl through pages and pages of writing. Military Motivator is one of the blogs I like ‘looking at’ rather than reading. I got in contact with the author of the blog to see how it started. […]
Let Them Drink Coke – Cash or Food for the Hungry?
The Coke truck arrived just in time. After a long day in the sun watching an aid distribution I was in need of a cold lukewarm drink. But wait, these people in Kenya’s Kerio Valley were hungry. Many had not had a proper meal in weeks yet vendors seemed to come and go with chapatis, […]
31 very interesting things: 6. Reservoir Dogs
Reservoir Dogs is a great film. Less great if you watch it via our satellite service DSTV which sees fit to blank out the word “God” and anything stronger. If memory serves, the opening scene went as follows: Joe: Who hasn’t BLANK put BLANK in? Mr Pink: I don’t BLANK BLANK tip just because society […]
Give the man a dime…
Frontline blogger David Axe is cap in hand as he heads out to Chad and Sudan in the coming days. The Guerilla News Network is helping him raise $5,000 to make the trip to report on the European peacekeeping force and the U.N. refugee camps out there, I believe that vivid, courageous journalism, adequately resourced, […]
Are you constantly worried?
Just how do you report from a country under the control of a dictatorial regime? That’s the question posed in this half hour NPR programme, “This is a dangerous job,†[Ethan Bronner, New York Times Jerusalem bureau chief] said, citing the kidnapping and murder of the late Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Karachi, […]
From Baghdad to Brixton
Colin Freeman, the Daily Telegraph’s chief foreign correspondent, compares living and working in Baghdad to life back on the streets of London, Britain’s streets may be cleaner than those in war zones, but in the past couple of years they have acquired something of a similar aura of random violence: the surge of teenage knife […]
The thin line
Peter Calamai from the Toronto Star reflects upon reporting from war zones and how 25 years ago newspapers were far more reluctant to use the photographs they publish today. At the end of it all, what was the point? What was the purpose of all this journalistic effort? We bore witness to man’s continuing inhumanity […]
Hostile environment training for student journalists
[video:youtube:FxinugZalOA] Student Steve Lestrange reports from a Hostile Environment training course undertaken by University College Falmouth MA International Journalism students. Doesn’t sound quite as hair-raising as the Reuters equivalent, but the weather looks worse.
Jeremy Bowen to speak on reporting suffering
World Have Your Say, a BBC World Service radio programme, is going to be discussing when and whether a reporter should help the suffering subjects of their news stories. Though not exactly a new topic, the idea for the debate, entitled ‘To report – or to help?’ was sparked by a blog post written by […]
Saving Somalia
Children are among the guards at a warlord’s home in Mogadishu In this part of the world it doesn’t take long to spot the problem with international aid to Africa. Or maybe I should rephrase things. In this part of the world it doesn’t take long to spot the problem with British aid to Africa. […]
Somalia’s Pirates = Robin Hood?
“Brutal†and “savage†is how The Guardian describes Somali pirates who have been seizing and ransoming ships at an increasing rate in recent months. On April 5 pirates from the Somali Marines group seized the French luxury yacht Le Ponant, leading to a daring French commando raid that nabbed several pirate suspects. In the wake […]
Inside Burma
[video:brightcove:1579853638] Discussion about Burma from the Frontline Club this week. The questions on the table, What is the situation in the worst affected areas and how much aid is actually getting through? And what is the relationship between the military junta and the international community? link Taking part are; Ashley South, he visited the country […]
