Forum Blog
Tracing the first official U.S. military blogs
So yesterday on Twitter I asked a question: when was the first official U.S. military blog started? Of course, long gone are the days when blogs were an unknown quantity, and these days blogs by U.S. soldiers will usually be signed off by a superior meaning they are to some degree ‘official’ but I wasn’t […]
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 […]
British Armed Forces launch front line blogs from Afghanistan
Need to run out in a moment or two so excuse the brevity of the post, but I’ve just been helpfully pointed in the direction of a press release on military blogging: ‘British forces in Afghanistan have launched their first-ever mass blogging initiative, with dozens of personnel writing from the frontline on the Army, Navy […]
Trouble in Store by Douglas Morrison
With Brighton the sparehead of english eco-politics, having elected the first Westminster green MP, it is fitting that a brilliant site-specific, multi-media show carries on the fight, linking shopping and messing up the planet. So this is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a chopper. If art has something to say […]
The blog as a weapon in an era of information war
I’ve been doing some research into the coverage of the Gaza conflict (back end of 2008, front end of 2009) on blogs. One of the English-language blogs that covered the war was the Muqata blog. The Muqata blog was started in 2005 by ‘Jameel’, a Jewish settler who had lived in Chomesh in Gaza before […]
What would Orwell say? How the web is championing top quality journalism
For all the scaremongering, hand-wringing and hair-pulling that has taken place over the last few years, the state of journalism is in fact alive and well and even aided by the internet revolution. But anyone at Wednesday’s Frontline event with three writers shortlisted for the Orwell Prize could see that great stories still can and […]
Reporting the Moscow Metro bombings
ПоÑмотреть на ЯндекÑ.Фотках (Link to Tatiana Krasnova’s album) Two female suicide bombers were believed to be responsible for the deaths of 38 commuters in Moscow at rush hour this morning. Russian officials say that 60 people were also injured in the attacks at Lubyanka and Park Kultury Metro stations. There are more details here […]
Embedded journalism in Afghanistan
Yesterday, I travelled up to Coventry for a conversation about embedded journalism in Afghanistan. It was hosted by Coventry University and the BBC’s College of Journalism. I’m not sure I ever really understood the question that was supposed to frame this debate: "Afghanistan: Are we embedding the truth?" (Answers on a postcard etc…) But as […]
Club quiz
With quiz master Marcus Berkmann.
Join us for another quiz evening in the Clubroom. You can enter as an individual or as a team of six. All money will go to the Fixers’ Fund which raises money for families of fixers around the world killed or injured while working with the international media.
The Charles Douglas-Home Journalism Competition
We are pleased to announce that Frontline is to join The Charles Douglas-Home Memorial Trust in running a journalism competition which the Trust has awarded for some time. The winning article will be published in the next issue of Frontline. The writer should have been working in journalism for under 7 years. The winner of […]
Charles Douglas-Home Memorial Trust Competition
We are pleased to announce that Frontline is to join The Charles Douglas-Home Memorial Trust in running a journalism competition which the Trust has awarded for some time. The winning article will be published in the next issue of Frontline. The writer should have been working in journalism for under 7 years. The winner of […]
Broadsheet Spring Issue Editorial
Editors of newspapers across Britain will soon be deliberating that peculiar duty they feel (unlike most of their counterparts overseas) to endorse a political party at the coming election. It seems a curious thing for any publication that considers itself independent to do at the best of times, which this is not. This time round, […]
First Wednesday: The challenges of telling the full story of war in Afghanistan
Download this episode View in iTunes Watch the full event here. By Heather Christie Media coverage of the conflict in Afghanistan is misinforming the public because it’s too heavily influenced by military strategy, practical challenges, and cultural preconceptions. That was the clear message at March’s first Wednesday event at the Frontline Club on Afghanistan and […]
Department of Defense switches default policy on social media to ‘open’
As of last Friday, all US servicemen have been able to update social networks like Twitter and Facebook from non-classified military network computers. The announcement by the Department of Defense is the first time a single policy has been used across all branches of the Armed Forces and effectively reverses a Marine Corps ban on […]
The Grisly Hunt by Julius Strauss
The life of a bear in British Columbia is cheap. Hunters, in collusion with the authorities, can kil a full-grown Grizzly for just $100. Julius Strauss reports from the Selkirk mountains on how he is fighting to stop the carnage We had just made it to the river, ducking under branches and scrambling around stumps, […]
Orange turns Blue by Askold Krushelnycky
Ukraine’s presidential elections, marred by corruption and vicious infighting, have produced a winer in viktor Yanukovych, Moscow ’s favoured candidate. as Putin looks to enlarge his empire, what does this victory mean for the region? Ukraine’s presidential election five years ago, which led to the Orange Revolution, seemed to signal that the country had finally […]
Lost boy found by Alan Philps
Russia is suffering an alarming drop in population yet it is throwing away potentially useful lives by in carcerating children with minor disabilitiesand conniving at baby trafficking. Alan Philps met one child who escaped. Newspaper headlines are always shouting that the Russian bear is eternally waking up, growling, or on the prowl. When Vladimir Putin, […]
Ambush in Helmand
Here’s my second piece on Channel 4 News, which was broadcast on Thursday night. This piece also went out on PBS Newshour. They ran it with few changes but here is the link to that version as well…I think the subtiles look nicer. I will be working on longer director’s cut this weekend and will […]
Tracking the Taliban: Vaughan Smith’s video report from Helmand Province
I have just returned from a second trip with the Grenadier Guards, who I visited in Helmand in 2007. They are now in Nadi Ali, in Helmand province, Afghanistan. I was there for a month, but my computer got waterlogged and so I haven’t posted anything to my blog from there so far. However, I am […]
Chicago’s Favourite son by Charles Glass
What did Barack Obama learn in Chicago that propelled him to the White House? The Democratic Party there was a tough school, renowned for dirty politics. Can the education he had from The Machine help him bring Washington to heel? Illustration by Chris Riddell Until Barack Hussein Obama’s inauguration more than a year ago, […]
Counterinsurgency blogged: A 30-day tour of Afghanistan
This looks like an interesting new blog which apparently kicks off today. US Tech Sergeants Ken Raimondi and Nathan Gallaghan are going to travel through five regional commands in Afghanistan blogging and vlogging along the way. Unsurprisingly, they think the story of counterinsurgency in Afghanistan isn’t being covered by the media: "We want to show […]
A view of ‘peace building’ in Afghanistan
‘Captain Cat’ has been updating a blog in an attempt to "document some of what goes on under the label of peace building" in Afghanistan. There are plenty of interesting insights in the Captain’s dispatches and the blog is well worth latching on to, if you haven’t already. Here are a couple of recent posts […]
Frontline Club: blogging and social media training
Cross-posted from my now rather inaccurately named Mediating Conflict blog, this is just a note to let you know that I’ll be running the Frontline Club’s blogging and social media training course on 1 and 2 February 2010. Hopefully it will be great fun and a really good way to get yourself started in online […]
What would Studs think? by Ed Vulliamy
Obama may now be Chicago’s favourite son, but to many the city’s real iconic figure is Studs Terkel, whose writings and broadcasts brought working people’s stories to an international audience. Ed Vulliamy recalls a day with the legendary chronicler of ordinary lives. As Studs Terkel marched towards the reception desk of the Chicago Tavern Club, […]
Haiti – Future Imperfect by Tom Rhodes
Once the initial horror of the earthquake had passed, the internationalcommunity seemed determined that this most blighted state couldrise from the ruins with hope that things might change. But can it? In the days and weeks after haiti’s earthquake sent its televisual shockwaves across the world, there seemed genuine hope that this natural disaster might […]
Was CIA bomber a jihadi blogger?
That’s the question being asked by the frighteningly excellent jihadica.com. Citing an Al Qaida statement, they say: Abu Dujana al-Khurasani (real name Hammam Khalil Abu Milal) ‘the famous propagandist and writer on the jihadi forums,’ carried out the attack in Khost which left at least eight Americans dead. The news that the suicide bomber was […]
Reaction on the blogs to US intelligence in Afghanistan
The other day Major General Michael Flynn (et al) published a report which highlighted some fundamental failings of US intelligence operations in Afghanistan. US intelligence, he argued, is overly focussed on the enemy, unable to answer basic questions about local political, economic and cultural dynamics and is "only marginally relevant to the overall strategy". He […]
US Army blog reaches out to milbloggers
A post has been written on the official US Army blog in an attempt to appease disaffected US military bloggers who held a silent protest last Wednesday. Public Affairs Specialist, Lindy Kyzer, concurs with a number of concerns raised by military bloggers admitting that there are "still areas, and leaders, where blogging in the ranks […]
US military bloggers fall silent in protest
A couple of days ago a number of military bloggers in the US agreed to hold a silent day of protest and more bloggers appear to be joining the campaign. The trigger for the blogging strike was the treatment of blogger CJ Grisham whose chain of command became involved in his row with a local […]
Mark Urban blogging for the BBC from Afghanistan
Bit snowed under (not literally – it’s cold-ish here at the moment, but snow is so rare in the UK it usually brings the country to a standstill) with PhD work so afraid blogging will be a bit more sporadic over the coming weeks, if not months. (Pop by again in October 2010!) Just thought […]