The Frontline Club

It’s one of the world’s oldest surviving democracies, but just how free is the British media? Law firms can and do serve newsdesks with so-called superinjunctions banning all mention of their client or of the writ itself.

Lawyers acting for footballer John Terry and oil trader Trafigura both tried this tactic to stop unfavourable coverage – only for the facts to eventually trickle into the public domain.

Are these strong-arm tactics a threat to press freedom? Or simply an inevtiable response to the irresponsible, scandal-obsessed British newspapers? And more importantly, how can lawyers and judges expect to keep allegations secret when it only takes one person and a broadband connection to publish them around the world in seconds.

To debate this and more, the Frontline Club is delighted to welcome Guardian investigations editor David Leigh, Carter Ruck partner Nigel Tait, science writer Simon Singh and David Hooper, a media law specialist and partner at Reynolds Porter Chamberlain. The event is chaired by Clive Coleman, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Law in Action programme, and a former barrister.

How will online journalism affect this year’s UK General Election? For good or bad, it is certain the internet will carry more breaking news, more character attacks and more contentious comment than ever before. The bloggers will be busy and their stories, true or not so true, will spread like wildfire.

We have also had the arrival, since the last election, of online TV and radio channels, some of them run by newspapers, especially News International’s, which run to heavy political agendas without any regulation or legal requirements on fairness. Will all this be good for democracy and the fair conduct of the election, or not? Where will it leave the strictly regulated public broadcasting sector?

Join us for this year’s World Press Freedom Day debate as we ask, is unregulated political comment online helping the democratic process?

Moderated by William Horsley, Centre for Freedom of the Media (CFOM); Association of European Journalists (AEJ)

With: Sir Robert Worcester, MORI/Ipsos Group; University of Kent; Caroline Thomson, BBC; Prof Steven Barnett, University of Westminster; Sunny Hundal, Liberal Conspiracy and Nicholas Jones, author, previously BBC; Paul Bradshaw, Birmingham City University; Online Journalism Blog (OJB).

Organised by the UK National Commission for UNESCO and the Press Freedom Network, with the support of the Frontline Club.

How will online journalism affect this year’s UK General Election? For good or bad, it is certain the internet will carry more breaking news, more character attacks and more contentious comment than ever before. The bloggers will be busy and their stories, true or not so true, will spread like wildfire.

We have also had the arrival, since the last election, of online TV and radio channels, some of them run by newspapers, especially News International’s, which run to heavy political agendas without any regulation or legal requirements on fairness. Will all this be good for democracy and the fair conduct of the election, or not? Where will it leave the strictly regulated public broadcasting sector?

Join us for this year’s World Press Freedom Day debate as we ask, is unregulated political comment online helping the democratic process?

Moderated by William Horsley, Centre for Freedom of the Media (CFOM); Association of European Journalists (AEJ)

With: Sir Robert Worcester, MORI/Ipsos Group; University of Kent; Caroline Thomson, BBC; Prof Steven Barnett, University of Westminster; Sunny Hundal, Liberal Conspiracy and Nicholas Jones, author, previously BBC; Paul Bradshaw, Birmingham City University; Online Journalism Blog (OJB).

Organised by the UK National Commission for UNESCO and the Press Freedom Network, with the support of the Frontline Club.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said, after explosions in packed metro trains in the Russian capital left 38 people dead that, governments and nations around the world face a “common enemy” in terrorism. How useful is such an analysis? And what impact could linking all terrorist activity around the world have on efforts to combat terrorism?

Join us for a discussion hosted by Paddy O’Connell of BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House where we will be looking at the “War on Terror” and asking how the world has changed since it was launched.

With us to discuss the terrorist attacks in Russia will be Irina Demchenko, UK bureau chief of the Russian news agency RIA Novosti: Dr Bobo Lo, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, author and commentator on Russian foreign and domestic policy; Masha Karp, Russian-born freelance and commentator on Rights in Russia.

Oksana Antonenko, Programme Director (Russia and Eurasia) at International Institute for Strategic Studies a leading authority on political-military conflict.

Asim Qureshi, senior researcher at Cageprisoners and author of Rules of the Game and Rashad Ali, director of Centri and former head of curriculum at Quilliam will be discussing if the “war on terror” can ever be successful in combatting terrorism.

And asa May 6 election is announced in the UK, we will be asking if there would be any changes with a change of government.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said, after explosions in packed metro trains in the Russian capital left 38 people dead that, governments and nations around the world face a “common enemy” in terrorism. How useful is such an analysis? And what impact could linking all terrorist activity around the world have on efforts to combat terrorism?

Join us for a discussion hosted by Paddy O’Connell of BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House where we will be looking at the “War on Terror” and asking how the world has changed since it was launched.

With us to discuss the terrorist attacks in Russia will be Irina Demchenko, UK bureau chief of the Russian news agency RIA Novosti: Dr Bobo Lo, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, author and commentator on Russian foreign and domestic policy; Masha Karp, Russian-born freelance and commentator on Rights in Russia.

Oksana Antonenko, Programme Director (Russia and Eurasia) at International Institute for Strategic Studies a leading authority on political-military conflict.

Asim Qureshi, senior researcher at Cageprisoners and author of Rules of the Game and Rashad Ali, director of Centri and former head of curriculum at Quilliam will be discussing if the “war on terror” can ever be successful in combatting terrorism.

And asa May 6 election is announced in the UK, we will be asking if there would be any changes with a change of government.

With more journalists finding themselves without jobs in the last 12 months than at perhaps any point in the trade’s history, an increasing number of reporters, editors, designers and filmmakers are forging careers as freelances, many of them diversifying and learning new skills along the way.

But what are the key skills they need? What technology and new media knowledge do print journalists making the transition to online need to take with them? And what legal and financial hurdles should freelances look out for?

Our panel of experts will discuss this and more at a Frontline Club event tailored especially for freelances. Freelance multimedia journalist and trainer Adam Westbrook will be on hand talk about solo video journalism tools; freelance journalist Anne Wollenberg will talk about the realities and practicalities of being a wordsmith for hire; multimedia journalist and Mexicoreporter.com founder Deborah Bonello will talk about how to set up a journalistic website and John Brazier, head of freelance members’ body PCG, will outline the risks journalists face when going solo.

With more journalists finding themselves without jobs in the last 12 months than at perhaps any point in the trade’s history, an increasing number of reporters, editors, designers and filmmakers are forging careers as freelances, many of them diversifying and learning new skills along the way.

But what are the key skills they need? What technology and new media knowledge do print journalists making the transition to online need to take with them? And what legal and financial hurdles should freelances look out for?

Our panel of experts will discuss this and more at a Frontline Club event tailored especially for freelances. Freelance multimedia journalist and trainer Adam Westbrook will be on hand talk about solo video journalism tools; freelance journalist Anne Wollenberg will talk about the realities and practicalities of being a wordsmith for hire; multimedia journalist and Mexicoreporter.com founder Deborah Bonello will talk about how to set up a journalistic website and John Brazier, head of freelance members’ body PCG, will outline the risks journalists face when going solo.

"Celebrities" have dominated news culture in the last decade and become a mini publishing industry all of their own. From the continuing popularity of reality television and magazines like Heat, real-life showbiz characters have come to dominate the popular press and broadcast schedules.

But could all this coming to an end? Joining us for an On the Media talk about the media’s relationship with fame, are comedian and journalist Jane Bussman – author of The Worst Date Ever; Popbitch founder Camilla Wright; Heat magazine editor and broadcaster Sam Delaney and Sharon Hatt, celebrity liaison at the National Autistic Society.

The debate will be chaired by Robin Morgan, journalist and former editor of the Sunday Times magazine.

"Celebrities" have dominated news culture in the last decade and become a mini publishing industry all of their own. From the continuing popularity of reality television and magazines like Heat, real-life showbiz characters have come to dominate the popular press and broadcast schedules.

But could all this coming to an end? Joining us for an On the Media talk about the media’s relationship with fame, are comedian and journalist Jane Bussman – author of The Worst Date Ever; Popbitch founder Camilla Wright; Heat magazine editor and broadcaster Sam Delaney and Sharon Hatt, celebrity liaison at the National Autistic Society.

The debate will be chaired by Robin Morgan, journalist and former editor of the Sunday Times magazine.

Veteran BBC foreign correspondent John Simpson will be at the Frontline Club on the eve of the publication of his new book Unreliable Sources examining the British press and its reporting of key events throughout history.

John Simpson is the BBC’s World Affairs Editor and one of the world’s most experienced and authoritative journalists. He has covered many of the biggest stories of recent times from the Iranian revolution, to the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe and Russia, the Gulf War and the wars in Bosnia, the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan and their overthrow in 2001 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

John Simpson has won a number of awards including three Baftas, a Golden Nymph award for his reporting of Ayatollah Khomeini’s return to Iran and an International Emmy award for News Coverage for his report on the fall of Kabul for BBC ONE’s Ten O’Clock News in 2002 and an RTS award for his reporting during the invasion of Iraq.

His latest book Unreliable Sources: How the Twentieth Century Was Reported turns an eye to how Great Britain has been transformed by its free press and asks whether the press can ever be truly free and whether we would desire it to be so.

Unreliable Sources by John Simpson is published by Macmillan on 19 March.