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.

During the 1990s Smith worked as an independent cameraman and video news journalist covering wars and conflict in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, Kosovo and elsewhere.

During that time he 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.

Smith himself filmed the only uncontrolled footage of the Gulf War in 1991, after he bluffed his way into an active-duty unit while disguised as a British Army officer.

Smith has been shot twice but escaped both times with light injuries. While filming the Serbian action at Prekaz in April 1998, a bullet lodged in Smith's mobile telephone.

The workings of Frontline News TV captured the imagination of a generation of young freelances. Its history has been detailed in a book Frontline: The True Story of the British Mavericks who Changed the Face of War Reporting, by David Loyn of the BBC.

Prior to setting up Frontline News TV, Vaughan was briefly a microlight test pilot.

Before that Smith was an officer in the British Army’s Grenadier Guards, serving in Northern Ireland, Cyprus and Germany. Smith captained the British Army shooting team and won the inter-army rifle shooting championship.

Smith also runs an mixed organic farm in Norfolk, England, which provides the seasonal food for the Frontline Club and its public restaurant.

Smith currently resides in Norfolk, England with his wife. He has four children.