safety
New international press card will help to keep freelance journalists safe
The Frontline Club Charitable Trust today announced the launch of the Frontline Club Charitable Trust Press Card at the FCO’s Defending Media Conference in London. This practical initiative will provide safety and protection for freelance journalists across the world, especially those working in difficult or hostile environments. Press cards are an essential part of a […]
The Last Column
On the eve of the UK’s first Media Freedom Conference in London, this event examines new and current threats facing journalists – both online and offline – and explores potential solutions for protecting reporters’ lives and the freedom of information.
Redefining Foreign Correspondence
The role of the foreign correspondent has changed immeasurably in the past 20 years. With phones tracked by enemy satellites and an ever increasing kidnap bounty on their head, the days of journalists passing through a checkpoint with 200 cigarettes and a bottle of scotch are over. On Tuesday 1st November, in an event organised […]
The Kidnapping of Journalists: Reporting from High-Risk Conflict Zones
This event is organised by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and the International News Safety Institute (INSI).
The vulnerability of journalists to kidnappings was starkly illustrated by the killing of James Foley and Steven Sotloff by Islamic militants in 2014. Their murder underscored the risks taken by journalists and news organisations trying to cover developments in dangerous regions of the world and has forced news enterprises to more clearly prepare for and confront issues of safety.
We will be discussing how news organisations prepare for and respond to the risk of kidnap, and how insurers, victim recovery firms, journalists’ families, and governments influence the actions of news enterprises – and why freelancers are particularly at risk.
Sheffield Doc/Fest Session: Dangerous Storytelling — Documentary Filmmaking and the Safety of Subjects
Heading to Sheffield Doc/Fest this year? Not only does the programme contain a fantastic selection of documentaries, but everyone with a full festival pass also has access to the diverse and inspiring conference programme. We have produced a conference session, Dangerous Storytelling: Documentary Filmmaking and the Safety of Subjects, which will place at the ITV Town Hall Council Chamber at 10:15 AM on Tuesday 9 June.
The New Censorship: Inside the Global Battle for Media Freedom
From Egypt to Mexico, Russia to Syria, journalists are increasingly coming under attack. They are murdered, imprisoned and intimidated for doing their job. As executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Joel Simon is on the front line of the global battle for media freedom. He will be joining us to offer an insight into the problems we face and to examine what needs to be done to ensure future generations are not deprived of a free press.
How to Freelance Safely – Part Two
Following our event in New York with the Overseas Press Club of America (OPC), they will be coming to London to continue the discussion.
We will be bringing together a panel of freelance journalists and editors to examine what more needs to be done to make sure freelancers are supported by the news industry and have the resources available to prepare themselves for the risks of front-line reporting.
The Frontline Club in New York: How to Freelance Safely – Part One
This event will take place at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs Building, 420 West 118th Street #1, room 1302, New York.
We are delighted to be teaming up with the Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) for two events on freelance safety. The first will be held at Club Quarters in New York and the second in November at the Frontline Club in London.
Insight with Kathy Eldon: Dying to Tell the Story
By Hodan Yusuf – Pankhurst, freelance multimedia journalist Kathy Eldon is a journalist, activist, and author who has transformed a personal tragedy into a positive force for good. She spoke at the Frontline Club on 5 November about her son, Dan Eldon, a 22-year-old photojournalist who was one of four journalists killed in Somalia on the 12 […]
Insight with Kathy Eldon: Dying to Tell the Story
Dan Eldon was a 22-year-old photojournalist working in Mogadishu, Somalia, when he was killed in 1993. His mother, Kathy Eldon, heart broken by her son’s death, turned her mind to how she could transform the horror of what happened to him into a positive force for good. She will be joining us to talk about her journey, how she travelled to Somalia to try and understand why her son had been killed and how his life inspired her and her daughter, Amy Eldon Turteltaub, to start the Creative Visions Foundation, to support creative activists who use media and the arts to create social impact.
Sheffield Doc/Fest Session: Surviving Syria – Filmmaking in Extremis
Heading to Sheffield Doc/Fest this year? Not only does the programme contain a fantastic selection of films, everyone with a full festival pass also has access to the diverse and inspiring conference programme. Join Frontline Club founder, Vaughan Smith on Friday 14 June at 2.30 PM at the Crucible Studio, for the panel Surviving Syria: Filmmaking in Extremis.
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 […]
Workshop: A Video Journalist’s Toolkit
Camera skills, interview techniques and essential safety tips – this one-day workshop will cover what you will need to know before setting off as a one-man- or one-woman-band video journalist.
Screening: The Network + Q&A
Unique, uplifting and heartbreaking, The Network tells the story of Afghanistan’s first independent television network – TOLO TV – and the people behind it. With over 800 Afghans employed producing news, current affairs, drama, comedy, music, and lifestyle programmes, the whole team face their biggest challenge with the impending withdrawal of foreign troops. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Eva Orner.
Calls to support fledgling freelancers as more flock to war zones
By Helena Williams Calls to support the next generation of independent journalists working in conflict zones were made just days after French freelance photographer Olivier Voisin was killed by shrapnel in Syria.
Screening: Opium Brides + Q&A
Afghanistan produces around 90 percent of the world’s opium, fueling the global heroin trade, funding fundamentalist groups like the Taliban and bringing billions of dollars a year into the country’s economy. Award-winning Afghan journalist Najibullah Quraishi travels deep into the Afghan countryside to reveal the deadly bargain local farmers are being forced to make in order to save their own lives. The screening is followed by a Q&A with reporter Najibullah Quraishi and producer Jamie Doran.
Donate to Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues (RISC)
Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues (RISC) was founded by Sebastian Junger in reaction to the death of his friend and colleague Tim Hetherington, who lost his life covering combat in the Libyan city of Misrata a year and a half ago. RISC trains freelance journalists in battlefield medicine and in April they completed their first […]
Is drone journalism coming to the UK?
In November 2011, Polish firm RoboKopter filmed striking images of a political demonstration in Warsaw using a video camera attached to a drone or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The New York Times heralded the footage as signalling the arrival of ‘drone journalism’. Since then, we haven’t seen many newsgathering drones in UK skies, but we might […]
Launch of Frontline Club journalism safety initiative
Editors, producers, practitioners and others involved in the news industry will gather at the Frontline Club in early May to discuss issues of safety.
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 […]
Looking ahead to February at the Frontline Club
Our packed February programme kicks off with an opportunity to hear from former Google executive Wael Ghonim, who helped mobilise support for Egypt’s street protests with his ‘We are all Khaled Said’ Facebook page and was recently named one of Time magazine’s top 100 most influential people. The following week we will be launching a series of discussions, screenings and workshops examining the risks faced […]
Lighting and Electrical Safety for Video
The Trainer says……“The Frontline camera and directing courses are an excellent way for people already in media jobs to get the new skills and confidence that are now essential in an evolving and demanding workplace. The courses are also a great introduction for people curious about entering any field where these skills are needed.” Many […]
10 worst countries to be a blogger
On the eve of World Press Freedom Day, the Committee to Protect Journalists puts together a list of the 10 worst countries to be a blogger. Visit their site to find out more about the 10 countries and the justification for inclusion. The list, in order, is below and Burma comes out worst. Click each […]
The case of Roxana Saberi
The parents of Roxana Saberi, the freelance journalist sentenced to eights years for espionage in Tehran, have visited their daughter in the Iranian capital for the first time since the verdict was dished out at the weekend. The 31 year old was originally arrested for buying a bottle of wine. Her subsequent one day […]
Reporting Zimbabwe
Writing in The Indypendent Alaina Varvaloucas and Jerry Guo describe the day to day work of journalists in the Zimbabwean capital Harare. Magwenya himself secretly works as a stringer for CNN and has approximately 20 colleagues in Harare who do the same work for other major Western media outlets. Not only is he free to […]
Flak jackets for Somali journalists
The National Union of Somali Journalists issued journalists with flack jackets and helmets at a ceremony at the Hotel Sahafi in the capital Mogadishu on Thursday. 20 journalists, both independent freelancers and staff reporters, were kitted out with the gear donated by the Doha Centre for Media Freedom, “These bulletproof jackets and helmets will improve […]
Sri Lanka government to investigate journalists
The Sri Lankan government has appointed a Parliamentary Select Committee to investigate the work of journalists "who have been contributing articles detrimental to the interests of Sri Lanka to foreign Non Governmental Organizations", according to Sri Lanka Defence Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella. Government will reveal names of those Sri Lankan journalists in about a fortnight, […]
Freelance journalist missing in Zimbabwe
Kudzai Musengi, a freelance journalist based in Gweru, is missing according to an alert issued by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-Zimbabwe) today. Musengi failed to return home after normal working hours on 31 March and family and colleagues have not been able to contact him. MISA-Zimbabwe strongly appeals to the authorities and law […]
Beverly Giesbrecht ransom offer rejected
A ransom offered to the Taliban kidnappers of Beverly Giesbrecht has reportedly been rejected according to a report on the Globe & Mail newspaper. Giesbrecht, a Canadian freelance journalist who also goes by the name of Khadija Abdul Qahaar, was kidnapped four months ago in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The kidnappers […]
The most dangerous places for journalists
Iraq, Sierra Leone and Somalia are the most dangerous place for journalists according to the 2009 Imupunity index released by the Committee to Protect Journalists today. However, the report entitled Getting Away With Murder 2009, highlights worrying trends in South Asia, particularly in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, “We’re distressed to see justice worsen in […]