Afghanistan
General Richards: The media “frequently draw the wrong conclusion” on Afghanistan
The Chief of the Defence Staff gave an annual lecture to the Royal United Services Institute last night. General Sir David Richards spoke broadly about the global environment, the response of the armed forces and particular strategic challenges. He argued that Britain’s main challenge was economic and emphasised the cultivation of strategic alliances to compensate […]
Five links from 2011: ‘Twitter’
I am picking out a few of the more interesting links from my 2011 delicious bookmarks. On Monday, I selected five from my ‘war reporting’ tag. Today, I’ve selected another five from among the bookmarks I labelled ‘Twitter’ in my delicious account. Enjoy! 1. ‘Visualising the New Arab Mind‘ Computational historian Kovas Boguta visualises the Twitter influence […]
Five links from 2011: ‘War Reporting’
This year I bookmarked at least 530 links on delicious. I know that because I try to tag each bookmark by year – I’m three hundred or so links down on last year’s total of 854. Seeing as we’re coming to the end of the year I thought I’d pick out a few of the […]
Part 2 – Jonathan Steele on 30 years in Afghanistan and the foreign correspondent’s craft
By Thomas Lowe Arriving in the Deep South of the United States in 1964, Jonathan Steele witnessed the appalling treatment of black Americans. Almost five decades on, The Guardian‘s foreign correspondent says that ‘bearing witness’ to happenings in places as disparate as El Salvador, Russia and Afghanistan still drives his journalism. With Tom Finn, the […]
Jonathan Steele on a career that began with ‘an enormous dose of luck’
Watch the event here. By Olivia Heath Award-winning journalist Jonathan Steele discussed his views on the war in Afghanistan and the changing role of the foreign correspondent on Tuesday night at the Frontline Club. In conversation with freelance journalist Tom Finn, The Guardian correspondent recalled his reportage of memorable global events covered for the Guardian. His first […]
Insight with Jonathan Steele: The craft of the foreign correspondent
Jonathan Steele has been covering global events for the Guardian for over forty years. From the civil rights movement in Mississippi and Alabama to his extensive coverage of the past 30 years of Afghan history, his work has won him recognition as one of the greatest foreign correspondents of his generation.
He will be joining us at the Frontline Club in conversation with freelance journalist Tom Finn who is currently based in Sana’a, Yemen to reflect on his 40-year career, which has taken him to Eastern Europe, Washington correspondent and Kabul, Afghanistan throughout the Soviet period until 1992.
ForesightNews world briefing: upcoming events 31 October – 6 November
A weekly round up of world events from Monday, 31 October to Sunday, 6 November from ForesightNews By Nicole Hunt The week starts off with a bang as humankind hits a big milestone on Monday – the UN is marking the day as the moment the world’s population surpasses seven billion people. A deadline set by […]
Vaughan Smith wins war reporting prize for his film Blood and Dust
Frontline Club founder Vaughan Smith has been given a prestigious Bayeux-Calvados award for Blood and Dust, a film shot during 10 days spent with a US Medevac helicopter team in Afghanistan. The awards, which were launched in 1994, recognise the work of journalists covering conflicts around the world. Smith’s film, which was shown on Al Jazeera in […]
In the Picture – Kate Brooks: A decade on the front line
A youthful Kate Brooks moved to Pakistan after September 11th 2001 to document the conflicts that flared in the region and make a name for herself as a photojournalist. Her new book, In the Light of Darkness, records the major conflicts in the Arab world in the past decade, from the Tora Bora mountains in Afghanistan, to this year’s Arab Spring. The event will be moderated by freelance journalist Ramita Navai.
Shedding light in darkness: Kate Brooks and capturing the Middle East
Last night’s Frontline Club event – In the Picture: Kate Brooks: A decade on the front line – shed some light on the motives behind Brooks’ incredible life: beautiful photography, capturing every shade of human emotion, from hope and happiness, to despair, and everything in between.
First Wednesday: Where has war left the people of Afghanistan?
How do the Afghan people view the last ten years since the US-led invasion and how have their lives have been changed?
Is it just another chapter in nearly half a century of conflict and instability? Is civil war avoidable? Is there any hope for the future and what might that future look like?
Another opportunity to join in a lively public meeting, hosted by Paddy O’Connell of BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House, bringing together experts and commentators and mixing their views with contributions from our audience.
Afghan lives ten years after the launch of Operation Enduring Freedom
Video streaming by Ustream How have the lives of the Afghan people been affected during the 10 years since the US-led invasion of the country in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States? That was the focus of October’s First Wednesday discussion at Frontline Club, which was hosted by Paddy O’Connell, presenter of […]
The battle for press freedom in Iran, Martin Bell and Somalia: the week ahead at Frontline Club
ANNOUNCING REACTIVE EVENT: Following the arrest of six Iranian filmmakers accused of collaborating secretly with BBC Persian, we will be bringing together a reactive panel on Friday to discuss their detainment and the battle for press freedom in Iran. Join us this evening with veteran war correspondent Martin Bell as he reflects on a career that has seen […]
ForesightNews world briefing: upcoming events 3 – 9 October
A weekly round up of world events from Monday, 3 October to Sunday, 9 October from ForesightNews By Nicole Hunt Though it’s sometimes difficult to keep track of which Silvio Berlusconi trial is currently in court, Monday sees the resumption of the most infamous of his four cases, in which he faces charges for abuse […]
Have you heard of 9/11?
By now, I’ll guess we’ve all heard pretty much enough about 9/11, but if you didn’t catch a glimpse of the short film I made, entitled "Have you Heard of 9/11?", the link below is to the version that aired on PBS Newshour recently. Similar short edits also aired on Channel Four News in […]
A decade of wrong decisions and damaging policies
Watch the event here. By Sara Elizabeth Williams The West’s reaction to 9/11 was excessive and misguided, wrongly influenced by hubris, hysteria and ignorance. Ten years on, we are still mired in a mess largely of our own making. Last night’s First Wednesday Special: Changing world – conflict, culture and terrorism in the 21st century, which […]
Afghanistan: The mistake was not going in, but not knowing why we were there
If you want to take part in further discussion about the impact of the War on Terror on our world today and how it might shape our future, come along to our FIRST WEDNESDAY SPECIAL: Changing world – conflict, culture and terrorism in the 21st century on Wednesday, 7 September. The decision to go into Afghanistan was […]
Afghanistan: the mistakes began on 12 September 2001
Watch event here. If you want to take part in further discussion about the impact of the War on Terror on our world today and how it might shape our future, come along to our FIRST WEDNESDAY SPECIAL: Changing world – conflict, culture and terrorism in the 21st century on Wednesday, 7 September. The […]
FULLY BOOKED Counterinsurgency and the “War on Terror”: Doomed to fail?
As we approach the 10-year anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks we will be bringing together a panel of experts to discuss the “War on Terror” that was launched by the United States government in their wake.
What has been achieved in Afghanistan and Iraq and, ten years on, what could be learnt from the Arab Spring about change in the region? 5 months into a new campaign in Libya, is it time that we reassess our involvement in the Arab world?
BBC journalists reflect on the nature of war reporting
BBC World Affairs Producer Stuart Hughes recently gave a talk on war reporting to a summer school at the London School of Economics. He has uploaded his slides and videos onto YouTube. Inevitably there are a few slides which won’t mean much without the benefit of Hughes’s words overlaid but he has included several interviews […]
The iPhone for war photographers
For many journalists, the iPhone has become a standard part of the toolset. But it’s also being tested to the limit by war reporters. A couple of interesting experiments from Afghanistan caught my eye this morning documenting ventures in the photographic potential of the iPhone. First, this piece in The Guardian highlighting its use by Teru […]
Kill/capture missions in Afghanistan: are they working?
Watch live streaming video from frontlineclub at livestream.com Are the kill/capture missions in Afghanistan effective? That was one of the key focuses of our First Wednesday discussion last night. The evening began with a short clip from Kill/Capture a film made by investigative journalist and author Stephen Grey about the United States’ unprecedented campaign […]
First Wednesday: Kill/Capture missions in Afghanistan
Following the targeted killing of Osama Bin Laden we will be devoting July’s First Wednesday to the expansion of man hunt missions used in Afghanistan to take out thousands of Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.
With a panel of experts we will be examining the effects of the kill/capture missions on the ground? How are they are conducted and how is the intelligence obtained? What effect are they having and could they play a definitive role in ending the war?
Part II: WikiLeaks pushed Arab unrest, Assange says
By Gianluca Mezzofiore WikiLeaks had a prominent role in the Arab Spring, acting as a catalyst and pushing global information to a point where the US and other Western countries could not prop up Arab dictatorships anymore, according to WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange. Speaking at a Frontline Club event in East London, alongside renowned Slovenian […]
Part I: Žižek, Assange and the “new McCarthyism”
By Viola Caon A "new McCarthyism" has emerged in response to WikiLeaks and is evidenced in the calls for assassination by US politicians, the site’s editor-in-chief said today. Julian Assange, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek and Amy Goodman from Democracy Now! shared a stage at a packed Frontline Club event at the Troxy in London’s […]
Frontline volunteer opportunity for summer: FNTV Archive
This summer the Frontline Club Charitable Trust in Paddington is offering part-time volunteer positions on an Oral History project to a small number of bright individuals. If you’re interested in journalism, war or the history of the late 20th century perhaps this is the project for you.
Frontline: reporting from the world’s deadliest places
A newly revised and updated edition of Frontline by David Loyn was published this week. The acclaimed book chronicles the work of the Frontline news agency, founded by journalists Rory Peck, Peter Jouvenal, Vaughan Smith and Nicholas Della Casa. First published in 2005, the latest edition features a foreword from BBC world affairs editor John […]
Osama bin Laden’s death: What difference will it make?
Watch the full event here. By Patrick Smith On the day after al Qaeda’s “leader” Osama bin Laden was killed by US forces in a daring raid on a nondescript compound outside Jalalabad, BBC Urdu sent out reporters into four cities across Afghanistan and Pakistan. Not to ask questions, but to observe. To sit at […]
FULLY BOOKED A safer world? What does Osama bin Laden’s death mean for Pakistan, Afghanistan and the West?
View in iTunes After the tracking down and killing of Osama bin Laden by a U.S. special operations team the questions have come thick and fast. At our May First Wednesday we are hoping to throw light on some of them: What impact will the death of Osama bin Laden have on Al Qaeda and […]
Insight with Zarghuna Kargar: The women of Afghanistan
Watch event here. By Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi Women would be the biggest losers if Afghanistan’s peace plan includes a deal with fundamentalist elements of the Taliban, according to Rachel Reid, who hosted Frontline’s talk with Afghan journalist Zarghuna Kargar. Reid sais she had lost hope that peace in Afghanistan would include progress for women. Reid, […]
