Frontlines of Journalism

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

Getting to the truth starts with getting to the story. Often that’s easier than said than done.Many people want to control access and the stakes can be high for those trying to get past them.Revisiting difficult stories he and other journalists have had to report, BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen looks at some of the obstacles that stand between journalists and what the Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein called the ‘best obtainable version of the truth’.Jeremy speaks with: former Reuters journalist Sabina Cosic, Emily Bell - Professor at Columbia University School of Journalism, CNN’s Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour and Eliot Higgins - founder of investigative journalism group Bellingcat.Presenter: Jeremy Bowen Producer: Georgia Catt Assistant Producer: Sam Peach Additional research: Rob Byrne Series mixing: Jackie Margerum Series Editor: Philip Sellars

Journalists couldn’t get to the truth with people. Some make stories possible. Others do all they can to stop them. Revisiting difficult stories he and other journalists have had to report, BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen looks at some of the obstacles that stand between journalists and what Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein once called the ‘best obtainable version of the truth’. In this episode: how journalists deal with sources, spin and powerful people.Jeremy speaks with: journalist and former BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg, Dean Baquet - until 2022 executive editor of the New York Times, BBC Gaza producer Rushdi Abu Alouf, and broadcaster and former editor of The Mirror and News of The World, Piers Morgan. Presenter: Jeremy Bowen Producer: Georgia Catt Assistant Producer: Sam Peach Additional research: Rob Byrne Series mixing: Jackie Margerum Series Editor: Philip Sellars

Reporting a story requires detail. But how much is enough? Or too much? Revisiting some of the most difficult stories he and other journalists have had to report, BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen looks at some of the obstacles that stand between journalists and what Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein once called the ‘best obtainable version of the truth’. Jeremy speaks with: Andrew Norfolk - chief investigative reporter for The Times, Aisha K. Gill - Professor of Criminology at University of Bristol’s Centre for Gender and Violence Research, Andrew Mosley - editor of Rotherham Advertiser, Emily Bell - Professor at Columbia University Journalism School and Eliot Higgins - founder of investigative journalism group Bellingcat.Presenter: Jeremy Bowen Producer: Georgia Catt Assistant Producer: Sam Peach Additional research: Rob Byrne Series mixing: Jackie Margerum Series Editor: Philip Sellars

The same story can look very different depending on how it’s written and where you get it. Who's in control?Revisiting some of the most difficult stories he’s reported on, BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen looks at some of the obstacles that stand between journalists and what Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein called 'the best obtainable version of the truth'. Jeremy speaks with: broadcaster and former editor of the News of the World, Piers Morgan; Emily Bell - Professor at Columbia University School of Journalism, journalist and environmentalist George Monbiot, former Reuters journalist Sabina Cosic, CNN’s Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour, and Dean Baquet - until 2022 the executive editor of the New York Times.Presenter: Jeremy Bowen Producer: Georgia Catt Assistant Producer: Sam Peach Additional research: Rob Byrne Series mixing: Jackie Margerum Series Editor: Philip Sellars

When BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen questioned President Bashar al-Assad about the well-documented Syrian practice of dropping barrels full of explosives on areas held by rebels, he was confronted by a repeated lie.The question for journalists is how they deal with that. And what happens when the lie machine is turned on the journalists themselves.Revisiting some of the most difficult stories he and other journalists have had to report, BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen looks at some of the obstacles that stand between journalists and what Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein called the ‘best obtainable version of the truth’.Jeremy speaks with: journalist Rana Rahimpour who was born in Iran but left when she was 25 to work for the BBC, Dean Baquet - until 2022 the executive editor of the New York Times, and Eliot Higgins - founder of Bellingcat.Presenter: Jeremy Bowen Producer: Georgia Catt Assistant Producer: Sam Peach Additional research: Rob Byrne Series mixing: Jackie Margerum Series Editor: Philip Sellars

In this bonus episode, the BBC’S International Editor Jeremy Bowen and Disinformation and Social Media Correspondent Marianna Spring talk about their respective new podcasts: Frontlines of Journalism and Marianna in Conspiracyland. They reflect on the obstacles that stand between journalists and the truth and the conspiracy theory movement that seems to have boomed in the UK after Covid. Exploring the similarities and differences of their journalistic specialisms, they discuss techniques to hold interviewees to account – especially when their position is based on disinformation - and the significance of social media in modern journalism.Host: Marianna Spring Producers: Georgia Catt, Emma Close Producer for BBC Radio 4 podcasts: Nathan Jones Senior news editor: Sam Bonham Commissioner: Rhian Roberts