Ever wondered what it is really like to be a war correspondent? This short film, Bringing the World to Britain, leaves you in no doubt. Sunday Times foreign correspondent Christina Lamb talks vividly of her experiences in the war zones of the Middle East - why she does it, what she takes with her and her most harrowing moments. I love the quote 'There is nowhere I haven't got into. No is a starting point for me'. She also tells of the most frightening experience of her life, trapped in a ditch in Afghanistan with the Taliban throwing mortars at her and bullets flying over her head alongside soldiers who all thought they were going to be killed. "I really, really didn't want to die in a muddy field in Helmand," she says. Watch it ... and be inspired.
The film is part of the excellent Sunday Times Unquiet Film Series. All of them are worth watching, especially those on Times New Roman and on Photojournalism.
Times New Roman wouldn't be my first choice of typeface for a newspaper design. There are many more readable serifs for body copy as my chart below shows (you can read about the chart's origins here). That said, I appreciate the elegance of Times and Times New Roman and their historical importance. These are nicely reflected in this short film dedicated to the font by The Times and Sunday Times. It's a must-watch for anyone interested in typography. The film is part of the Forever Unquiet series of shorts on journalistic issues which include photojournalism, the power of words and why journalists should question everything. When you get a minute take a look at them all. You won't be disappointed.
Footnote: The settings for this blog mean this is a lo-res jpg of the type chart. If you would like a hi-res PDF drop me an email on petersandssms@gmail.com and I will send you a copy. There is also a chart comparing the characteristics of sans headline faces used by newspapers
