The Forum Blog
Insight with Gary Younge: Race, identity, extremism and who we are
By Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi When people talk about young British Muslim extremists, we should consider the "disruptive capacity that alienation can bring out in someone is on the way to where these bombers come from". That’s according to journalist Gary Younge who appeared at the Frontline club on Tuesday to talk about identity and his work. […]
Bosnia: Will the uncertain peace deal hold?
View in iTunes By Joseph Stashko Almost 15 years after the Dayton Agreement, the future of Bosnia is still very uncertain. That was the unanimous agreement by the panel at last night’s Frontline Club, comprising of Paddy Ashdown, Kemal Pervanic, founder of Most Mira charity, and chaired by Allan Little, the BBC correspondent who spent […]
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 […]
FOOTBALL AT FRONTLINE
We will be hosting football nights in the Clubroom starting with England V America on Saturday June 12th @ 7pm. Come and enjoy some delicious British food and cheer on the boys…..
Axing the handouts for ‘subsidy junkie’ regional media
Watch the full event here. Journalists need skills other than subbing and writing: they need to fill a niche and to stop being afraid of dealing with money. And with the new Lib-Con government finally and conclusively shutting the door on the idea of giving over public funds to support innovative multimedia regional franchises (Independently […]
Little hope for change: Iran, Democracy and an international war of words
View in iTunes Watch event here. By Nicole Green Far from approaching domestic or international equilibrium, Iran is instead facing further instability and a worsening human rights record following on from the Presidential election which shook the nation last June. That was just one of the conclusions the audience took away from a lively debate […]
Lindsey Hilsum on the passion and idealism of journalism
Download this episode View in iTunes By Nicole Green Live-streaming a phone call to Israeli authorities while standing on the rubble of Palestinian homes, or reporting on the victims of genocide in Rwanda, where women care for the families who murdered their own, are experiences few journalists can count in their reporting history. But that […]
Inconvenient timing: Selling the climate change story after climategate
While last autumn’s climategate scandal has not completely decimated the public’s belief in global warming, campaigners and scientists need to reach out to unconventional audiences and getter better at communicating the facts if they want to tell – and sell – the climate change story. That was the consensus at last night’s Frontline Club discussion […]
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 […]
Pre-Election Night Special at the Frontline Club
View in iTunes On the eve of polling day, First Wednesday will be an opportunity to discuss some of the issues that have come up – or haven’t – during this election campaign. We’ve had TV debates, "Cleggmania" and a hung parliament remains a possibility but how much does the […]
Orwell Prize event: read our profiles of Peter Hitchens, Amelia Gentleman and John Arlidge
The annual Orwell Prize rewards journalists who most closely follow George Orwell’s aim of making “political writing into an art”. And it’s that art we’ll be celebrating on Wednesday 12 May at an exclusive panel discussion with three writers shortlisted for this year’s prize. Here we look at the life and work of our special […]
Climategate: Trust in climate science under the microscope
When Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth was released in 2006, global warming and climate change were at the top of the news agenda around the world. Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were rewarded with the Nobel Peace Price for "their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about […]
Nick Clegg rides Sky high: The second leaders’ debate
View in iTunes While there were no definitive answers on Trident, Iran, or immigration at last night’s second televised leaders’ debate, one thing is for sure: it was an entertaining night of political theatre as Britain’s three vying political leaders grappled with foreign policy and the new televised format. The Frontline Club screened the second […]
Leaders’ Debate at the Frontline: Is it really a three-horse race?
Last week’s historic political party leaders’ debate showed just how uncertain the result of 2010 election will be (here’s The Times’ coverage). Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg was considered the winner of the debate in many opinion polls, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown admitted his defeat, at least in terms of style and delivery Brown claimed […]
Neil MacFarquhar’s tales of ordinary Middle Eastern life
"When you work for the New York Times, people expect you to know everything," according to Neil MacFarquhar. The journalist remembered: "Like the time I was at a dinner party in San Francisco and a woman came up to me and asked ‘Are there any normal people in the Middle East? People like you and […]
Sundays have never tasted so good….
Come and enjoy a delicious Sunday roast at Frontline; 2 courses for £15 (12pm-4pm)- and then why not wonder upstairs for a 4 o’clock screening.
Pre Theatre Menu
We have a specially selected 2 course menu for diners heading off to a screening, discussion or even the west end. Order by 6.30pm
Superinjunctions at the Frontline: Heated debate on libel cost controls
By Jasper Jackson The threat to freedom of speech from costly libel cases and the "chilling" fear of legal action could be alleviated by reforming the system to deal with smaller cases faster and cap the maximum costs lawyers can charge. That was at least one agreement in an otherwise combative debate amongst the panel […]
Rise of the superinjunction: why libel reform matters to journalism
Download this episode View in iTunes By Ewan Palmer and Patrick Smith The shark-infested waters of UK media law could be about to get a little safer, thanks to Ministry of Justice reforms to curb extortionate lawyer success fees earned through "no win no fee" conditional fee arrangement cases (CFA). But Jack Straw’s quick-fire […]
First Wednesday: Exporting Russia’s radical Islam to the West
By Heather Christie Is Russia’s radical Muslim movement related to the global jihad movement? Or are the targeted attacks executed in Russia fundamentally different from those that take place in the West? That tricky question was debated at April’s First Wednesday event at the Frontline Club, after the recent Moscow metro bombings. If you couldn’t […]
Haiti photographs: Too shocking or a necessity?
The earthquake in Haiti is thought to have killed more than 200 000 people and has seen some harrowing imaged published around the world in an attempt to show the true extent of the devastation. Were the images of death and suffering too shocking to be shown in the first place or were journalists merely […]
Going Solo: Freelance multimedia journalism is nothing to be scared of
By Jasper Jackson Journalists embarking on a freelance career should not be afraid of going it alone, but they must take advantage of new technology and multimedia toll to get noticed, according to a Frontline Club panel of freelance experts. If you couldn’t make the event, here is a video of the whole thing in […]
Wikileaks video portrays the dangers of reporting the war on terror
By Ewan Palmer Last night Wikileaks revealed a shocking video of two US military helicopters killing a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad, including two staff members of Reuters. The footage was shot in 2007 and shows an unprovoked attack filmed from one of two Apache military helicopters. Two children were also […]
Russian suicide attacks: Where does this leave the War on Terror?
By Ewan Palmer How serious is the threat from terrorism to the modern world? The suicide bombings in Moscow and Dagestan this week altogether killed 51 and, despite the likely localised inspiration for the attacks, fears of more violence elsewhere in Europe have been raised once again. But is there any justification for the current […]
Going solo: Is this the time for freelancers and hyperlocal?
By Ewan Palmer By now it’s unlikely that journalists want to hear any more about how their industry is in turmoil. So how about suggesting ideas to sustain the craft: is the future in freelancing? Does it lie in entrepreneurialism? From employment to self-employed Working for yourself is an obvious solution for the […]
MPs as ‘cabs for hire’: sleaze, lies and lobbying
With trust in politicians already at an all time low after the MP expenses scandal and the election due to be announced any day now, could the row over cash-for-influence be the final act for George Brown and the Labour Government? Here’s ITN’s report of the scandal… Tomorrow night at the Frontline we host a […]
John Simpson: BBC under threat from politicians and Rupert Murdoch
By Gouri Sharma John Simpson is in no doubt over the very real political and regulatory threats the BBC is facing and doesn’t trust either of the main UK political parties to protect the organisation. The BBC world affairs editor, who was at the Frontline Club on Wednesday night to talk about his latest book, […]
Timothy Garton Ash on Europe, Obama and the ignorance of George W Bush
Download this episode View in iTunes By Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi The rise of China, not Islamist terrorism, is the story of our time, declared Timothy Garton Ash at the Frontline Club last night. If you missed the event, you can watch the whole thing here… “The story of the next 20 years is about China, […]
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 […]
Britain’s press ‘duped’ in run-up to Iraq war
Much of Britain’s press was taken in by cynical manipulation when they accepted the case for invasion of Iraq, journalists at the Frontline Club involved in reporting the war and its lead up claimed on Wednesday. Speaking during a discussion on the role of the media in the Iraq war, journalists who were involved in […]