Due to the nature of the job, this event will be presented with a slightly different lineup: Channel 4 News’ International Editor, Lindsey Hilsum and the freelance filmmaker, photographer and recent author, Paul Conroy. They will talk about their craft and work.

The event will start at 8pm – note that this is an hour later than originally advertised. Tickets are £20 and can be purchased online and at the door.

‘Reflections’ at the Frontline Club brings well known journalists to the stage to look back on their careers. Incorporating video clips, still images and articles selected by them, the host Vin Ray describes it as “a cross between Desert Island Discs and This is your Life”.  It is held in association with the BBC Academy College of Journalism.

On 29th May Alex Thomson, chief correspondant for Channel 4 News and the recent winner of the prestigious RTS Television Journalist of the Year joined Vin Ray.

Alex Thomson with Vin Ray. Photo credit: Caroline Schmitt

The first to be shown were two black and white still images showing the famous albino boy in Biafra by Don McCullin and Eddie Adam’s man being shot in Vietnam, the Saigon Execution.

“There is something peculiarly arresting about these photos; something that makes you stop and look about a photograph, different from television. I can visualise still images from Syria more easily than some of the moving images.”

When asked about what safety measures the Channel 4 News team take in conflict zones, Thomson shared an anecdote about one of his early experiences:

“When we started doing the Croatian War, we had a white diesel W2 Golf and wrote TV on it with black gaffa tape because that’s what they do in war movies. . . We just didn’t know what we were doing.”

When Ray asked what draws the correspondent to conflict zones, he stated:

“I do it because I like doing it. I do it because I don’t want to stand outside the House of Commons or in the City. That would drive me into a very early state of unhappiness.”

Thomson then read to the packed audience the report ‘Massacre in Sanctuary’ about the Qana Massacre in southern Lebanon. Written by Robert Fisk, Middle East Correspondent for The Independent in April 1996,  according to Thomson it was an example of “first-class, unencumbered and passionate eye-witness reporting.”:

“When you just look at that, when you take that apart as a piece of writing, there’s so much going on, there’s so much conveyed. . . . I just think that something like that just stands and there will always be a place – online or in the newspaper – there will always be a place for that kind of writing – direct, passionate reportage.”

Another issue raised by Thomson was the underreported issue of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) amongst soldiers operating remote drones in the US, which he elaborated on after presenting the infamous helicopter gunship footage leaked to WikiLeaks:

“They [USAF drone operators in Nevada] do a shift, they operate a drone and go back to see the assessment, so they see what the drone has done. They see the people  and the bits of people lying there . . . and switch off their computers. . . . Half an hour later they are in the shopping mall with their kids. That’s incredibly difficult for a human brain to link up. . . . Post-traumatic stress isn’t just found on the battlefield, it’s found on the virtual, real battlefield amongst drone operators as well.”

He finished with his well known foot-in-the-door interview with Kelvin MacKenzie, former editor of The Sun, to inquire about the newspapers infamous editorial take on the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster:

“Nasty. Vindictive. Pointless. Unpleasant. Personal. Tawdry. Cheap…theatrical. It’s all of that. Every time I see it, I feel more sorry for him actually. . . I started laughing, that was the problem . . . I couldn’t believe the way he mishandled it.”

Watch the full video or listen to the podcast below:

https://soundcloud.com/frontlineclub/reflections-with-alex-thomson

Newly crowned RTS Television Journalist of the Year, Alex Thomson was described as “without question one of the UK’s leading correspondents”. As chief correspondent at Channel 4 News his range of work from the Syria crisis, to door stepping Kelvin Mackenzie about the Hillsborough disaster has won him wide acclaim.

He will be joining Vin Ray in conversation to reflect on a career that has seen him spend 22 years at the Channel 4 News covering 20 wars across the Gulf, the Balkans, Africa and Afghanistan, as well as presenting the programme.

Described by host Vin Ray as a cross between Desert Island Discs and This Is Your Life, Reflections brings journalists to the stage to reflect on the stories that have impacted them most throughout their career and the journalists whose work has inspired them.

In association with:

"As-live" Twitter reportage

Alex Thomson’s report from Babaji in Helmand was broadcast on Channel 4 yesterday evening. During the embed he also experimented with providing ‘as-live’ Twitter updates:

"Soldier’s just been been shot in the head on roof few feet away.. RMP Tom McGuffy . He’s ok – took his helmet not his brain."

"They’re giving him water, . He can’t believe he’s alive. They’re ANA using RPGs from the front door. This compound mt’ nt be all that safe.."

These tweets initially caused some confusion as Twitter users thought they were receiving live information from the battlefield. Of course, operational security meant the Twitter updates were being delayed:

"I say again this is not live tweeting. I’m relaying tweets as I wrote them. As it happened. Op Sec means you have to delay.."

Later, Thomson added a ‘(Not live)’ directive to help his audience:

"(Not live) Oh – turns out our shot sentry was wearing a helmet camera when the bullet hit. Bingo! Welcome to 21st century war."

Hopefully, we’ll find out more about the embed and the experiment with this form of front line ‘as-live’ reporting at this event at Coventry University on Thursday.