Frontlines of Journalism BBC Radio 4

Jeremy Bowen presents stories from the frontlines of conflict– and journalism itself. Today’s journalists are no longer seen as non-combatants in battles – be they in real war zones or engaging in political and cultural reporting.
For the past four decades BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen has reported from the frontlines of some of the most complex, contentious and contested conflicts in the world. Across ten episodes Jeremy reflects back on some of the most difficult stories he’s reported on and discusses the obstacles that get in the way of the truth with journalists from around the world.
Presenter: Jeremy Bowen
Producer: Georgia Catt
Assistant Producer: Sam Peach
Additional research: Rob Byrne
Series mixing: Jackie Margerum
Series Editor: Philip Sellars

In the spring of 2023, twenty years after the Americans, the British and their allies invaded to overthrow Saddam Hussein, BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen was reporting from Iraq for the BBC. He described the invasion as 'a catastrophe'.
Taking you to some of the most difficult stories Jeremy and other journalists have covered; in this episode - why impartiality is not about trying to get perfect balance, the truth lying somewhere in the middle.  Often it does not.  
Jeremy speaks with: journalist Rana Rahimpour who was born in Iran but left when she was 25 to work for the BBC; former BBC bureau chief Milton Nkosi, who grew up under apartheid in Soweto, South Africa; journalist and environmentalist George Monbiot, and CNN's Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour.
Presenter: Jeremy Bowen
Producer: Georgia Catt
Assistant Producer: Sam Peach
Additional research: Rob Byrne
Series mixing: Jackie Margerum
Series Editor: Philip Sellars

What happens when the world is divided about the rights and wrongs of a conflict, and a story generates a lot of heat?
Nothing does that more than the most contentious story Jeremy Bowen has covered: Israelis and Palestinians.
BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen speaks with: BBC Gaza producer and journalist Rushdi Abu Alouf, journalist Shlomi Eldar and Emily Bell - professor at Columbia University School of Journalism, a director of the Guardian Media Group and former editor-in-chief across the Guardian’s websites.
Presenter: Jeremy Bowen
Producer: Georgia Catt
Assistant Producer: Sam Peach
Additional research: Rob Byrne
Series mixing: Jackie Margerum
Series Editor: Philip Sellars

Journalism can mean pushing your way into peoples’ lives at their worst moments.
Without a good a reason, it’s tourism. Or war porn. People disagree on what that reason is.
Reflecting on his reports from the Siege of Sarajevo, BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen asks if it is enough to just report it straight.
Jeremy speaks with: journalist and environmental activist George Monbiot; Nikole Hannah-Jones, whose 1619 project won the Pulitzer Prize; former BBC correspondent Michael Buerk who speaks of his concerns following his coverage of the Ethiopia famine and two journalists Jeremy was with in Sarajevo: former Reuters journalist Sabina Cosic, and CNN's Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour.
Presenter: Jeremy Bowen
Producer: Georgia Catt
Assistant Producer: Sam Peach
Additional research: Rob Byrne
Series mixing: Jackie Margerum
Series Editor: Philip Sellars

For BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen, good reporting involves empathy. But the job of a foreign correspondent means being an outsider.
Detachment was once considered a journalistic virtue, but does lived experience allow you to tell a story more accurately? Is who we are an obstacle to getting to the real story?
Jeremy speaks with: Dean Baquet - until 2022 the executive editor of the New York Times; Emily Bell - professor of the Columbia University Journalism School and a director of the Guardian Media Group; Nikole Hannah-Jones whose 1619 project won the Pulitzer Prize; former Reuters journalist Sabina Cosic and former BBC bureau chief Milton Nkosi.
Presenter: Jeremy Bowen
Producer: Georgia Catt
Assistant Producer: Sam Peach
Additional research: Rob Byrne
Series mixing: Jackie Margerum
Series Editor: Philip Sellars

In early March 2022, days after the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen was in Kyiv.
Back in the hotel after a day of reporting, the enormity of what was happening prompted an emotional reflection.
Jeremy speaks with: Piers Morgan, Emily Bell - Professor at the Columbia University School of Journalism and a director of the Guardian Media Group, Dean Baquet - until 2022 executive editor of the New York Times, journalist and environmentalist George Monbiot and CNN’s Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour.
Presenter: Jeremy Bowen
Producer: Georgia Catt
Assistant Producer: Sam Peach
Additional research: Rob Byrne
Series mixing: Jackie Margerum
Series Editor: Philip Sellars