Vaughan Smith
Encyclopedia
During the 90s Smith also ran Frontline News TV, an agency set up in 1989 to represent the interests of young video journalists who wanted to push the envelope of their profession. The workings of Frontline News TV captured the imagination of a generation of young freelancers and was described by the BBC world affairs editor John Simpson
as one of the "high peaks of journalism". Its history has been detailed in a book Frontline: Reporting From the World's Deadliest Places, by David Loyn
of the BBC
.
During Smith's time as a freelance, he worked for many of the world's leading television stations and became an expert on, and advocator of, greater support for freelances operating in war zones. He has worked on journalist safety programmes.
As a freelance cameraman, he won, either individually or part of a team, 28 news awards (see below).
Smith has been shot twice but escaped both times with light injuries. While he was filming the Serbian
action at Prekaz in April 1998, a bullet lodged in his mobile telephone.
Smith founded the Frontline Club
in London in 2003 as an institution to champion independent journalism and promote better understanding of international news and its coverage.
Smith also runs a mixed organic farm on his estate at Ellingham Hall
, in Norfolk
, a "sprawling and elegant Georgian
manor house near the town of Bungay
" which has belonged to his family for more than three centuries. The estate is "[s]urrounded by 600 acres of woods and fields. . . . It has 10 bedrooms, a large dining room with a convivial circular table, and portraits of Smith's ancestors hanging on the walls. There is a housekeeper who cooks meals." The farm provides the seasonal food for the Frontline Club and its public restaurant.
In 2010, Smith gave refuge to Julian Assange
, the founder of whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks
, first at the Frontline Club and then at his country house.
He said of his decision to house Assange: "Having watched him give himself up last week to the British justice system, I took the decision that I would do whatever else it took to ensure that he is not denied his basic rights as a result of the anger of the powerful forces he has enraged.
"It was about standing up to the bully and the question of whether our country, in these historic times, really was the tolerant, independent and open place I had been brought up to believe it was and feel that it needs to be."
in Norfolk, England with his wife. He has four children.
In 2007, Smith was the joint winner of a Guardian Media Innovation Award and in 2008 a Rory Peck Award finalist for his independent video blog from Afghanistan, From the Frontline.
Giving a speech at the Rory Peck Awards ceremony, Smith strongly criticised news broadcasters for failing to give cameramen due recognition for their work. "I've been shot more times than I have been credited by the BBC
," he said. "Without the recognition we deserve we spill our blood anonymously, consigned to the margins."
John Simpson
John Cody Fidler-Simpson CBE is an English foreign correspondent. He is world affairs editor of BBC News. He has spent all his working life at the Corporation...
as one of the "high peaks of journalism". Its history has been detailed in a book Frontline: Reporting From the World's Deadliest Places, by David Loyn
David Loyn
David Loyn has been a foreign correspondent since the late 1970s, mostly with the BBC. He is an authority on Afghan history.Loyn worked as a Radio correspondent for IRN for 8 years, and in 1987 he joined the BBC as a TV correspondent...
of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
.
During Smith's time as a freelance, he worked for many of the world's leading television stations and became an expert on, and advocator of, greater support for freelances operating in war zones. He has worked on journalist safety programmes.
As a freelance cameraman, he won, either individually or part of a team, 28 news awards (see below).
Smith has been shot twice but escaped both times with light injuries. While he was filming the Serbian
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
action at Prekaz in April 1998, a bullet lodged in his mobile telephone.
Current activities
Frontline Club
The Frontline Club is a media club near London's Paddington Station. With a strong emphasis on conflict reporting, it aims to champion independent journalism, provide an effective platform from which to support diversity and professionalism in the media, promote safe practice, and encourage both...
in London in 2003 as an institution to champion independent journalism and promote better understanding of international news and its coverage.
Smith also runs a mixed organic farm on his estate at Ellingham Hall
Ellingham Hall, Norfolk
-External links:* *...
, in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, a "sprawling and elegant Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
manor house near the town of Bungay
Bungay
Bungay is a town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England.Bungay may also refer to:* Bungay railway station* Frank Bungay , former professional footballer* Stephen Bungay , British management consultant, historian and author...
" which has belonged to his family for more than three centuries. The estate is "[s]urrounded by 600 acres of woods and fields. . . . It has 10 bedrooms, a large dining room with a convivial circular table, and portraits of Smith's ancestors hanging on the walls. There is a housekeeper who cooks meals." The farm provides the seasonal food for the Frontline Club and its public restaurant.
In 2010, Smith gave refuge to Julian Assange
Julian Assange
Julian Paul Assange is an Australian publisher, journalist, writer, computer programmer and Internet activist. He is the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website and conduit for worldwide news leaks with the stated purpose of creating open governments.WikiLeaks has published material...
, the founder of whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
, first at the Frontline Club and then at his country house.
He said of his decision to house Assange: "Having watched him give himself up last week to the British justice system, I took the decision that I would do whatever else it took to ensure that he is not denied his basic rights as a result of the anger of the powerful forces he has enraged.
"It was about standing up to the bully and the question of whether our country, in these historic times, really was the tolerant, independent and open place I had been brought up to believe it was and feel that it needs to be."
Personal life
Smith lives at Ellingham HallEllingham Hall, Norfolk
-External links:* *...
in Norfolk, England with his wife. He has four children.
Awards
As a freelance cameraman Smith won, either individually or as part of a team, 28 news awards. Most of them were for “The Valley”, a film which Smith produced about the Kosovo War, which remains one of the most acclaimed documentary ever shown on the UK’s Channel 4 Television.In 2007, Smith was the joint winner of a Guardian Media Innovation Award and in 2008 a Rory Peck Award finalist for his independent video blog from Afghanistan, From the Frontline.
Giving a speech at the Rory Peck Awards ceremony, Smith strongly criticised news broadcasters for failing to give cameramen due recognition for their work. "I've been shot more times than I have been credited by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
," he said. "Without the recognition we deserve we spill our blood anonymously, consigned to the margins."
Contributions
- Smith produced The Valley, a film about the Kosovo war of 1998/9.
- Smith produced an independent multimedia blog From the Frontline in 2007, reporting from Southern Afghanistan. The blog earned him a Guardian Media Innovation Award.
- Smith co-produced Blood Trail, a feature documentary which follows photojournalist Robert King for 15 years, nominated for the 2008 Toronto Film Festival2008 Toronto International Film FestivalThe 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This 33rd annual festival was from September 4 to September 13, 2008...
. - Smith was a finalist in the 2008 Rory Peck AwardRory Peck AwardThe Rory Peck Award is an award given to freelance camera operators who have risked their lives to report on newsworthy events. It was set up in 1995 and is named after the Northern Irish freelance cameraman Rory Peck, who was killed while reporting on the siege of the Moscow White House in 1993....
s for his film about Grenadier GuardsGrenadier GuardsThe Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...
in Helmand. - In 2011, Smith produced Blood and Dust, a film about life and death on a US Medevac helicopter in Afghanistan.
External links
- Review of David Loyn's book about Frontline.
- Smith relates how he impersonated a British officer in the 1991 Gulf War.
- BBC Newsnight article on Afghanistan.
- The Frontline Club.
- Shot more times than credited by the BBC.
- Why I support Julian Assange.
- Good man to share a trench with by Philip Jacobson.
- Smith on BBC Radio 5 Live on supporting Julian Assange.
- Smith's latest Afghan Medivac film on Al Jazeera.
- Smith's blog.