Russia and Ukraine: 12 months in the media war
THE MEDIA WAR THAT HAS ACCOMPANIED RUSSIA’S INVASION OF UKRAINE has shown how important a part of 21st century conflict journalism is, and also demonstrated the power authoritarian regimes possess to restrict reporting–even in the age of smartphones and social media. In a move that echoed the draconian censorship...
Reporting from Russia: live event at the Frontline Club, London, January 20th 2023
ON FRIDAY 20TH JANUARY AT 1900 I will be chairing a live discussion, ‘Reporting from Russia’, at the Frontline Club in London. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a war not only on a neighbouring country, but also a war on journalism. New laws rushed through the Russian parliament in...
New Edition of ‘Assignment Moscow’ out in 2023
RUSSIA’S ATTACK ON UKRAINE in February this year focused international attention on the Kremlin’s imperial ambitions in a way unseen since the collapse of the Soviet Union. At the same time, Russia introduced new legislation making normal journalism all but impossible. To call a ‘war’ by its real name–instead...
Journalism, History, and a farewell to a new generation
MY FIRST INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENT was in a past century, to a place that no longer exists. This week, I have been thinking a lot about that–for the story I covered then dominates Europe as it has not done since, and, on Friday 10th June, was the reason a president...
How A Shocking Book Tells Stories So Well
THE AUDIENCE WAS SILENT THROUGHOUT, only stirring to hush some people from the venue who had started a whispered conversation at the back of the hall. When the time came for them to question the author, they slowly began to raise their hands. They seemed still to be trying...
Victory In Europe? The Champions League, The Christmas Market, War, And Brexit
Finding your way in a strange city has got easier with apps, but even they can let you down in urban areas where the closeness of buildings confuses the software. I was a little late. My flight had been on time; the car I had booked had turned up;...
London In Coronavirus Lockdown: A Tale Of Two Chinooks
AFTER NIGHTFALL, YOU SEE THE LIGHTS LINING UP. Coming to the end of my commute on a winter evening, I can look up and see plane after plane stretching away into the murk of the eastern sky. They follow one another to land at Heathrow to the west. Sometimes,...