Politics
Phone hacking – ethics and tabloid journalism
View in iTunes Watch the event here. By Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi Rupert Murdoch’s positive contributions to the British press as well as the negative effects of his influence were discussed by a Frontline Club panel on phone hacking last night. Although some of the panelists concluded that the positives might even outweigh them, the negatives are “awfully […]
Frontline Club Exclusive: Julian Assange in conversation with Slavoj Žižek moderated by Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman
Discussing the impact of WikiLeaks on the world and what it means for the future, for this very special event WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange will be in conversation with bestselling Slovenian philosopher, Slavoj Žižek.
The event will be chaired by Amy Goodman, the award-winning investigative journalist and host of Democracy Now!, a daily, independent news hour which airs on the internet and more than 900 public television and radio stations worldwide.
Enough is Enough! A plea for peace
In recent weeks we have been posting some of the best content from the last two years of the Frontline broadsheet, including an outstanding photoessay from each edition (see here, here and here for more). Today we bring you John Morris‘s piece from Winter 2010 — an impassioned plea for a world free of nuclear […]
Julian Assange Sydney Peace Prize: full video
Last week at Frontine, WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize gold medal for Peace with Justice. You can read our report of events here. Below you can find the full video of the event. A write up of a Q&A section with Assange, which followed the speeches, can be found here […]
Julian Assange receives Sydney Peace Prize at Frontline
WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize gold medal for Peace with Justice at the Frontline Club this afternoon. Assange is now one of just four people to have been given the award. Nelson Mandela, the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso and a Japanese Buddhist leader Daisaku Ikeda are the only others […]
Is Silvio losing his grip?
Caught with his polls down, and, many believe, his pants down, the Italian prime minister – due in court in April on sex charges – faces ever-louder howls of outrage and calls to quit. His control of the media and populist touch have seen him through similar crises before, but can he escape this time? […]
The age of “the inexpert” and the unexpected?
Two blogs in the past seven days from different perspectives on the upheaval in the Middle East, raising the question of whether we are in uncharted territory or if the Western media in particular has been talking to the wrong people: In a post titled Middle East uprisings: no one predicted ‘rebellious cascade‘ Channel 4 […]
The Minister formerly known as “Doktor” zu Guttenberg
Yes, Germany’s Minister of Defence, Dr. Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, has been previously mentioned in Frontline blog dispatches. However the latest scandal to dog the defence minister is his doctorate, or more specifically, large slabs of his doctor of laws dissertation that he is accused of cutting and pasting. Minister zu Guttenberg has denied the claims […]
Screening: Videocracy
by Gianluca Mezzofiore Videocracy, screened yesterday at the Frontline Club, is a groundbreaking documentary by Italian-born, Swedish-based director Erik Gandini about the power of Berlusconi’s TV culture over Italian society at large. Showing the dark side of TV industry controlled by Berlusconi over the last 30 years, Gandini gives a precious insight over a fictional world […]
Martin Rowson: Caricatures and Commentary
Martin Rowson walked onto the stage at the Frontline Club last night with a pint and Laurie Taylor. As you would expect from a satirist, the tone of Rowson’s presentation was humorous with generous lashings of acerbic wit thrown into the mix.
Deaths in the Military, Mutiny, Mail and the Minister
To put it mildly, Germany’s Minister of Defence, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, will be facing a hostile parliamentary and media environment this week. Three military episodes are dominating headlines following reports from the German parliamentary ombudsman to the military. – The treatment of officer-cadets onboard the German Navy tall ship Gorch Fock, including events surrounding the […]
The changing nature of protest: why young people are taking to the streets
From Greece, to France and even Tunisia, is there a new movement of radicalised young people emerging, asks Paul Mason on BBC 2’s Newsnight. Paul Mason, who examines how this movement is different from previous generations, will be at the Frontline Club for our On the Media event, Reporting Protest,
Guido’s Pakistan Road Trip and Afghan ‘Outdoor Look’
Journalists accompanying Germany’s Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle, on his trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan this week had a few surprises. Thick fog prevented Mr Westerwelle’s plane from landing in Islamabad, forcing Germany’s top diplomat and journalists in tow to land 400 km away in Lahore. To keep to schedule, Plan B was to pile everyone […]
The world’s most wanted house guest by Vaughan Smith
Having watched Julian Assange give himself up last week to the British justice system, I took the decision that I would do whatever else it took to ensure that he is not denied his basic rights as a result of the anger of the powerful forces he has enraged. This decision – which will result […]
The Secular Fatwa on Julian Assange by Charles Glass
In February 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa inciting the faithful to murder author Salman Rushdie for blasphemy. Within a few days, professional writers convened in London, New York, and elsewhere to discuss countering this threat. In London, we met at the National Union of Journalists’ offices in Gray’s Inn Road. We had fierce arguments […]
Should Tony Blair be tried for war crimes?
Friday’s screening of The Alternative Iraq Inquiry was filmmaker David Lawley-Wakelin’s documentary-making debut. A panel discussion followed the screening of the short film, with former cabinet minister and MP Clare Short and Major General Tim Cross CBE.
The Secret War – Iraq War Logs
With the ‘biggest leak of military documents ever’, Wikileaks has reestablished its position as the pentagon’s no1 hate object. In a special four-page report, FRONTLINE discusses the shocking results of the whistle-blower’s collaboration with the Iraq Body Count group and talks to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange about the latest release. i l l u s […]
Welcome to the Global Shadow State – Julian Assange talks turkey about Wikileaks
Julian Assange reaches to take a book from a shelf behind him – any book. The commodity in which hedeals is information, and he wants to make a point about how information travels, and why. Or does nottravel, and why not. About what he calls “the media information flow economy”. He asks one to bear […]
Enough is Enough by John Morris
By John Morris, from the Autumn 2010 issue of the Frontline broadsheet (subscribe here) … Open publication
US midterm elections and why a Republican victory could help Obama
By Paige Gresty With campaigning ahead of the US Midterm elections heating up, what affects might the poll have on President Obama and his administration in the long run? Much of this Frontline Club panel discussion was devoted to the rise of the Tea Party, a hard right-wing conservative political movement in America spearheaded by […]
The US midterm elections: What’s at stake?
Join us at the Frontline Club where we will be looking ahead to the midterm elections and the next two years for President Obama’s in the White House with congressional scholar, Professor Thomas Mann, an expert on campaigns, elections and the effectiveness of Congress.
Incredible India by David Rieff
The shining face of success that the country presents to the world disguises deep tensions between great wealth and extreme poverty. With the commonwealth games approaching, David Rieff looks at the politics that sustains such divisions and wonders whether the dream of the Asian century still has meaning for this divided culture. The term “Asian […]
War & Peace by Jon Swain and Gavin Greenwood
As Vietnam celebrates the 35th anniversary of its defeat of the US, Jon Swain remembers the adrenalin rush of being a young reporter in the biggest war story of his life. Gavin Greenwood reports on how the old guard struggles to hold the socialist line. A few weeks ago, a group of Vietnam Old Hacks […]
Africa for sale by John Vidal
China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, India – half the world seems to be buying vast tracts of territory to grow food for their home markets. But, as John Vidal reports from Ethiopia, the great land-grab is at the expense of local farmers and is seen by some as a new colonialism. We turned off the main […]
Drawing the Horizon line: Public apathy and the oiligarchy
Despite the recently – or temporarily – ended Gulf of Mexico oil spill debacle, governments, oil companies and the public are not going to get serious about shifting away from oil or really clamping down on the industry any time soon. That was the consensus after a well-fuelled discussion last night at the Frontline Club […]
Continental Drift by Jurgen Kronig
Britain may find its new coalition govern ment strange and hard to comprehend. But, says Jurgen Kronig, look to Germany, long accustomed to such arrangements, which is adopting attitudes to politics more like our own. It is an ironic twist of fate: suddenly, Germany is discovering the attraction of a more sceptical attitude towards […]
What’s rocking the cradle of democracy? by Costas Douzinas
Few events in recent European political history have baffled the commentariat more than the widespread Greek insurrection, or “riots’“(according to rightwing analysts), of December 2008, and those last month, when a quarter of a million people took to the streets and the Greek parliament was stormed by trade unionists and other demonstrators. The catalyst for […]
Somaliland standing in line
The un-recognized but de facto independent Republic of Somaliland goes to the polls today in what should be – for all its flaws and uncertainties – the most fair and well-administered election that this nation in the north of the Horn of Africa has ever seen. This election could bring about the peaceful transfer of […]
Lord Puttnam: Digital Economy Act is ‘inadequate’ in meeting 21st century challenges
By Jasper Jackson The Digital Economy Act will allow the government to disconnect the very worst offending online piracy offenders from the internet, potentially cutting many ordinary people from an increasingly vital service. But the act, now passed into law, was undermined by the speed of the legislative "washup" process at the end of the […]
The bumpy road to the presidency – campaigning in Somaliland
With the date for Somaliland‘s Presidential election set for June 26th the campaign for the polls is now in full swing. These three authorized parties – the incumbent president Rayaale’s UDUB, the KULMIYE (Unity) and UCID (Justice and Welfare party) – are mobilising their supporters and the country is awash with the colours and symbols […]
