debate

March 19, 2012 7:00 PM

THIRD PARTY EVENT: Are cheap, local hires saving or ruining foreign reporting?

How are the rules of reporting being rewritten by risk? What innovative methods are journalists using to report from some of the world’s most dangerous places?

Journalists working in areas of conflict reveal how they get information when traditional techniques are insufficient. The discussion will focus on the interaction between local hires and foreign journalists. 


March 16, 2012 7:00 PM

#FCBBCA: Iran – power struggles and diplomatic tension

EXTERNAL EVENT HELD AT THE ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN

Thumbnail image for fcbbcabanner01.jpg

Join us as we bring together a prominent panel to discuss the growing tensions between Iran, its neighbours and the West, the impact of the power struggles at the heart of government and looking at the future of the pro-democracy movement.


March 13, 2012 7:00 PM

On the media: The protesters toolkit – revolutionary apps

Governments and security forces are becoming increasingly wise to the role of social media in organising and enhancing protest movements.


March 8, 2012

First Wednesday: The problems facing Pakistan and its leadership

View event here. Download this episode View in iTunes By Rosie Scammell The Forum opened to a full house on Wednesday evening for a clash of opinions over the problems facing Pakistan. With BBC journalist Owen Bennett-Jones acting as chair, the government and military soon took centre stage, a relationship described as “A power struggle […]


March 7, 2012 7:00 PM

FULLY BOOKED First Wednesday: The problems facing Pakistan and its leadership

Political tension are rising in Pakistan following the the Supreme Courts decision to charge Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani with contempt for failing to re-open corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

We will be bringing together a panel of experts to discuss the deepening political crisis in Pakistan and ask what lies ahead.


March 6, 2012 7:00 PM

FULLY BOOKED In conversation with Marwan Bishara: The promise and peril of the Arab revolution

Marwan Bishara Al Jazeera English’s senior political analyst and editor will be joining senior BBC presenter and special correspondent Lyse Doucet to discuss the roots of the uprisings across the Arab world, how they have evolved from country to country, the shifts they have created in the region and asking what lies ahead as people continue to battle for freedom and justice?


March 5, 2012 7:00 PM

THIRD PARTY SCREENING: An Arab Spring in Saudi?

A year after the Arab Spring Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen are still coming to terms with the realities that the fall of their respective dictators created. Some other countries are still struggling and revolts are ongoing in Syria and Bahrain. But what about countries in the Middle East that have born witness to the Arab Spring but haven’t been noticeably been touched by it?

In this documentary Shaimaa Khalil speaks to young Saudis, opposition leaders and tribe elders and asks whether the Arab Spring could ever find it’s way to The Kingdom.


February 28, 2012 7:00 PM

Reflections: Matt Frei


In association with BBC College of Journalism

Newly-appointed to Channel 4 News as Washington correspondent, Matt Frei, will be in conversation with former BBC executive Vin Ray to look back over nearly two decades at the BBC before his move was announced in May last year.


February 24, 2012 7:00 PM

FULLY BOOKED #FCBBCA: Crisis in Syria – what can be done?

What are the options for the Syrian people and for President Bashar al-Assad and his regime now that China and Russia have vetoed the U.N. Security Council’s resolution calling for foreign intervention? We will be discussing the deadly crackdown and asking what can be done – and by whom?


February 23, 2012 7:00 PM

THIRD PARTY EVENT: Viv Groskop in conversation with Sofi Oksanen, Robert Service and Elif Shafak

"Politics Versus the Personal: Totalitarianism Stamps out Love"

Presented by Borealis Theatre and the Estonian Embassy.

In conjunction with the UK theatre premiere of Purge by Sofi Oksanen at the Arcola Theatre, 22nd February – 24th March, Viv Groskop will lead a dynamic discussion about politics, love and oppression with three influential writers.


March 16, 2012 7:00 PM

#FCBBCA: Iran – diplomatic tensions and power struggles

EXTERNAL EVENT HELD AT THE ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN

Thumbnail image for fcbbcabanner01.jpg

Join us at the Royal Institution of Great Britain to discuss the growing tensions between Iran and the West, the internal power struggle within Iranian power elites and what the future could hold for the pro-democracy Green Movement.


February 22, 2012

Journalists killed as CPJ’s ‘Attacks on the Press’ is released

By Helena Williams No one who attended last night’s discussion at the Frontline Club on the safety of journalists was under any illusion that the issue was not an important one, but few there could have anticipated that it would be so topical. News of the death of Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin, a regular at the […]


February 21, 2012 7:00 PM

Reporting under fire: covering a new world of political unrest

Join us for the launch of a series of events, screenings and workshops at which we will be examining the challenges to safety faced by journalists around the world.
The event will also mark the launch of the Committee to Protect Journalists’ Attacks on the Press report which will be presented by CPJ executive director Joel Simon.


February 18, 2012

Fawzia Koofi – from a baby left to die to running for president of Afghanistan

by Ivana Davidovic "If it was fiction, you would not believe it.” That is how Nadene Ghouri, a journalist and a writer, described Fawzia Koofi‘s remarkable life story told in her new memoir The Favored Daughter: One Woman’s Fight to Lead Afghanistan into the Future. The day Koofi was born, was the day she was […]


February 17, 2012 7:00 PM

Insight with Fawzia Koofi: Running for president of Afghanistan

Fawzia Koofi has lived a life defined by struggle, the 19th of 23 children born, as a baby she was left in the sun to die because she was a girl. Now a Member of Parliament, she continues her struggle to improve women’s and children’s rights and plans to run for President of Afghanistan in 2014, despite death threats and assassination attempts.

Join us at the Frontline Club with Fawzia Koofi and the co-author of the book that tells her story The Favored Daughter: One Woman’s Fight to Lead Afghanistan into the Future, Nadene Ghouri, award-winning journalist and BBC correspondent.


February 16, 2012 7:00 PM

THIRD PARTY EVENT: ENO presents The Death of Klinghoffer – the debate

On 25 February, ENO stages the London premiere of The Death of Klinghoffer by John Adams. A powerful and arresting opera from one of the world’s greatest living composers, directed by Warhorse’s Tom Morris. Based on the hijacking of the cruise liner Achille Lauro, and resulting in the death of Leon Klinghoffer, a Jewish-American passenger. The Death of Klinghoffer is a theatrical presentation of an event that dominated the world headlines and became a defining moment in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

This debate explores the complex role of the arts in illuminating contemporary events touching on the relevance of opera today and ENO’s role in bringing fresh, modern work to the London stage, and extending the boundaries of theatre.


February 15, 2012

Rebuilding Libya

View in iTunes Watch the event here. By Alan Selby Much has happened since this time last year. The 15th of February 2011 saw the first Libyans take to the streets of Benghazi against a brutal dictatorship which ruled over them for 42 years. The events that followed sent shockwaves around the world, led to a […]


February 15, 2012

Rebuilding Libya

On 15 February 2011, inspired by their Tunisian and Egyptian neighbours, the people of Libya took to the streets in Benghazi calling for the end of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s brutal regime.

Join us at the Frontline Club to discuss the task of rebuilding Libya a year after the uprising began. We will be looking at the work of the National Transitional Council (NTC) and the tensions that remain. What are the prospects of a peaceful future?


February 15, 2012 7:00 PM

FULLY BOOKED Rebuilding Libya

On 15 February 2011, inspired by their Tunisian and Egyptian neighbours, the people of Libya took to the streets in Benghazi calling for the end of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s brutal regime.

Join us at the Frontline Club to discuss the task of rebuilding Libya a year after the uprising began. We will be looking at the work of the National Transitional Council (NTC) and the tensions that remain. What are the prospects of a peaceful future?


February 14, 2012 7:00 PM

THIRD PARTY SCREENING: The Ayatollah’s Seal

BBC Persian’s ground-breaking documentary, The Ayatollah’s Seal, charts the Ayatollah’s reign and, through a number of interviews with relatives, biographers and politicians, builds a profile of Iran’s most powerful man.


February 1, 2012

Part 2: Frontline Club discusses Italian press after Berlusconi

By Charlene Rodrigues Interestingly, condemnation of Berlusconi’s media involvement was not wholesale. Paolo Mancini, professor at the University of Perugia said: “Everyone here will expect me to say one thing but I don’t think Berlusconi is controlling the media. It’s overstated.” “Berlusconi tried to limit freedom of journalists but he did not succeed because there […]


January 31, 2012

Part 1: Frontline Club discusses Italian press after Berlusconi

Watch the event here. By Will Turvill The Frontline Club last night hosted a lively and informative discussion on what the future might hold for Italian media in the post-Berlusconi era. The event was hosted by BBC Radio 4 presenter Steve Hewlett who was joined on the panel by four Italians and an Anglo-Italian lecturer […]


January 31, 2012 7:00 PM

Italy after Berlusconi: What now for media freedom?

On 12 November the longest-serving post-war Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi resigned after losing his majority and public support.

While no longer Prime Minister, he continues to control one half of the countries terrestrial TV market and his company Media Set is a big player in the print and advertising sectors. Will Berlusconi continue to wield influence and manipulate the government through his party and media ownership?


January 30, 2012 7:00 PM

FULLY BOOKED Insight with Gene Sharp: From Dictatorship to Democracy

The past year has seen people take to the streets across the Middle East and North Africa to demand an end to tyranny and oppression, with their actions leading to unprecedented regime change across the region.
Less known is that the tactics used by many of these protestors come from the writings of an 83-year-old political scientist, Dr Gene Sharp. The 198 “non-violent weapons” listed in his book From Dictatorship to Democracy have now been circulated amongst dissidents around the world.
We are thrilled to announce that Dr Gene Sharp will be joining us at the Frontline Club in conversation with Ruaridh Arrow, journalist, filmmaker and director of the award winning documentary How to Start a Revolution to discuss his work and the uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa.


January 18, 2012

Frontline Club panel optimistic about the future of Egypt

By Will Turvill There was an overall feeling of positivity in the Frontline Club last night as the panel, chaired by the Observer‘s foreign affairs editor Peter Beaumont, discussed what the future might hold for the Egyptian people after a year of military rule. Indeed, despite recognising the number of challenges facing the revolutionary movement, each […]


January 17, 2012

Egypt: After a year of military rule, what next?

Tuesday 25 January 2011 has become enshrined in Egypt’s history as the ‘day of rage’ when people took to the streets against the tyranny and oppression of President Hosni Mubarak’s regime. As we approach the one-year anniversary of that day we will be joined by a panel of Egyptians to discuss the hopes of that day and the challenges that lie ahead.


January 17, 2012 7:00 PM

FULLY BOOKED Egypt: After a year of military rule, what next?

Tuesday 25 January 2011 has become enshrined in Egypt’s history as the ‘day of rage’ when people took to the streets against the tyranny and oppression of President Hosni Mubarak’s regime. As we approach the one-year anniversary of that day we will be joined by a panel of Egyptians to discuss the hopes of that day and the challenges that lie ahead.


January 16, 2012

#FCBBCA: Voices of the revolution


IN ASSOCIATION WITH BBC ARABIC

For the first #FCBBCA event of 2012 we will be marking one year since the beginning of what has become known as the “Arab Spring” by bringing together some of the leading digital activists and bloggers across the region.

For this special event we will be asking bloggers and digital activists to select a panel that they believe are the key voices of the uprisings across the Arab region.

Further details of this remarkable event will be available in December.


January 12, 2012

How to become a freelance foreign correspondent

By Helena Williams Last year was the year of the freelance foreign correspondent. The tumultuous events of 2011 gave freelance journalists unprecedented access to breathless, breaking news stories in the Arab world – unlike Iraq and Afghanistan, where embedding restrictions applied, freelancers were free to travel and compete on the frontline. With the increasing attraction […]


January 11, 2012 7:00 PM

FULLY BOOKED On the media: Becoming a freelance foreign correspondent


This event is now fully booked but you will be able to watch it live here and follow the discussion on #fcfreelance.

With uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa setting a relentless pace in this year’s news agenda, media outlets have frequently turned to freelances to cover events in countries where they are without staff bureaus and wire services.

The Frontline Club, in association with the BBC College of Journalism, will be bringing together a panel of freelances who will discuss the practicalities of life as a freelance foreign correspondent from setting up in a country to finding and pitching stories and dealing with the realities of conflict.