Brent Stirton win the First Annual Frontline Club Journalism Awards
The Frontline Club announces the winners of the inaugural Frontline Club Award and the Frontline Memorial Tribute Award for excellence in journalism. The Frontline Club journalism awards will be an annual event. The awards aim to recognise an outstanding body of work or series of contributions over a one-year period. The awards focus on journalistic integrity, courage and the independence of spirit, regardless of nationality or media discipline and include the work of freelances. The Frontline Club Award will be given annually and the Frontline Memorial Tribute occasionally. The Frontline Memorial Tribute is dedicated to the memory of Frontline Club members killed in the course of their work.
Go to the Frontline Club website
here2007 Frontline Memorial Tribute
Brent Stirton wins the inaugural Frontline Memorial Tribute Award for his photographic essay on gorillas in the eastern part of The Democratic Republic of Congo. The judges focused on one image in particular; the image is of a dead male gorilla, one of four found in the forests in Virunga and transported out by the rangers.
Judging Criteria
There are only winners, not finalists. Award winners are selected by a panel of judges drawn from the Frontline Club's 1,000 plus members. Submissions are not sought, but gathered by the members of the judging panel. Winners receive lifetime membership of the Frontline Club, a certificate and their names will be carved into a plaque in the main clubroom. The awards ceremony will take place on 20 June, 2008 at the Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place, London. True to the unconventional roots of the club, the Frontline Club Journalism Awards ceremony differs from more traditional awards. Winners are invited to talk at the club at an informal gathering. 100% of funds raised at the awards ceremony go to the Fixers Fund - set up by the Frontline Club Charitable Trust to promote responsibility in the news industry for the welfare of fixers and translators. The event will be also be live streamed over the internet.
Current Panel of Judges
Jon Lee Anderson, Patrick Cockburn, Carlotta Gall, Gary Knight, Christina Lamb, Allan Little, Anthony Loyd, Seamus Murphy, Vaughan Smith (Chair)
Frontline Club
The Frontline Club Charitable Trust is a registered UK charitable trust (charity no. GB 1111898). The trust hosts regular media discussions and global news debates in the club events room. The trust has organised over 900 events.
The Frontline Club is a social enterprise, which supports The Frontline Club Charitable Trust through trade from its restaurant and club membership fees.
The Frontline Club opened its doors soon after the Frontline Television News agency closed down. Frontline TV was created over Christmas lunch in the midst of the chaos and confusion of the Romanian revolution. It went on to become a key player in the independent fringe of television newsgathering.
“Frontline will be remembered as one of the high peaks of journalism. Martha Gellhorn certainly thought so, and she was a pretty good judge” John Simpson
The Club was set up by the surviving members of the original team of maverick cameramen, and dedicated to the memory of friends and colleagues who lost their lives gathering news and images from the world’s conflict zones.
This history is reflected throughout the building in our changing photographic exhibitions. The current War and Protest exhibition is made up of iconic black and white from some of the world’s finest photographers, including the legendary Robert Capa.
The Club quickly became a centre for a diverse group of people united by their passion for quality journalism and dedication to ensuring that stories that fade from headlines are kept in sharp focus. It exists to promote freedom of expression and support journalists, cameramen and photographers who risk their lives in the course of their work.
Fixer’s Fund
The fund was created in May, 2007 in response to the murder of Ajmal Naqshbandi in Afghanistan. The fund raises money for the families of fixers killed or injured while working with the international media.
Ajmal, a 24-year old journalist from Kabul, was taken hostage by the Taliban in Helmand province on March 4, 2007. He was working with the La Repubblica reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo and their driver Sayed Agha. Jon Lee Anderson wrote about the murder for the Frontline Club Magazine and his article inspired the creation of the Fixers Fund, “Agha was beheaded shortly after the group was abducted... On March 19, the Italian was freed in exchange for five senior Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government...
After Mastrogiacomo’s release, Ajmal remained in Taliban hands. Supposedly, he was being held until the government handed over two more Taliban prisoners. But then, two days before the expiration date they executed him...
There can be no better moment than this one to establish a special compensation fund for the indispensable, underpaid and often unnamed Ajmals and Sayeds who pull us through and help us get our stories around the world, and who, increasingly, are paying the ultimate price for doing so.”
