Frontline Club — A London Members’ Club and Its Charitable Trust

The Frontline Club is a members’ club in London for journalists and people interested in international affairs. Its own account of its origin is specific: it was “Set up by cameraman Vaughan Smith in 2003 in honour of colleagues at the Frontline News Television agency who died pursuing their work.”

It also records how the membership has changed. The club says it was founded “with the sign up of 300 journalists and foreign correspondents”, and that today its membership “consists of photographers, writers, documentary filmmakers, captains of industry, artists and activists”. That is worth reading carefully if you assume it is a purely professional body: it is not.

There are two entities behind the name, and keeping them apart makes the rest of this page easier to follow. The Frontline Club is the members’ club you subscribe to. The Frontline Club Charitable Trust, referred to on their pages as FCCT, is a registered charity with number 1111898, and it is the charity that “delivers an extensive programme of public events”.

The events programme is the part of the operation most visible to journalists who are not members. It is run by the charity rather than the club, and the club describes it as “the events programme that produces nearly 200 events per year and has done for the past 19 years”.

There is one practical caveat the charity states itself, and it matters if you are reporting on something held at the venue: “All events organised and supported by FCCT are listed on the website, events not listed are third party hires and have no affiliation with FCCT.” In other words, an event happening at the address is not automatically a Frontline Club event. Check the website’s own listing before you describe it as one.

The Frontline Fund. Formerly the Fixers’ Fund, it raises money for the families of fixers killed or injured while working with the international media. The club’s account is that it was “Prompted by the murder of Ajmal Naqshbandi in Afghanistan in 2007”, and that the club “pledges to pass on 100 percent of all the contributions it receives to the families involved”.

Be clear about the direction of travel here, because it is easy to get backwards. This is not a grant a working journalist applies to for their own expenses, training or safety costs. It supports the families of fixers, and the page describes no application route at all. If you commission fixers, or work alongside them in the field, it is a fund to know about and support — not one to apply to.

The Frontline Freelance Register. The charity states that it “is also home to The Frontline Fund, formerly the Fixers Fund, and The Frontline Freelance Register, a self-help group for conflict freelancers”. That is the extent of what the page we read says about it, so treat the description as a pointer and go to the club for current detail on how it operates or who it admits.

Registered objects. The Charity Commission entry records objects including advancing, for the benefit of the public, “education of journalists, media decision-makers, educators and other persons interested in matters of public concern” and promoting “free, accurate and responsible media coverage anywhere in the world”. The register also records safety training for people exposed to danger in conflict areas among its objects.

Not a regulator. The Frontline Club is not a press regulator and has no role in adjudicating complaints about published content. It cannot order a correction or sanction a publisher. UK press and broadcast regulation sits with IPSO, IMPRESS and Ofcom, depending on the publisher and the medium.