Monday, May 03, 2004

53 journalists who died covering the news in 2003 are added to Freedom Forum Journalists Memorial

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Remarks by Tom Brokaw

ARLINGTON, Va. — The names of 53 journalists who died covering the news in 2003 were added today to the Freedom Forum Journalists Memorial in Arlington, Va., to commemorate World Press Freedom Day.

The memorial, located in Freedom Park, now pays tribute to 1,528 reporters, editors, photographers and broadcasters who died or were killed while on assignment. Tom Brokaw, anchor and managing editor of "NBC Nightly News," spoke at the 11 a.m. ceremony. Brokaw's NBC News colleague, David Bloom, is one of the 53 journalists who were remembered at the event.

Nineteen reporters died while covering the war in Iraq and another died in Germany a week after being wounded in Iraq in a grenade attack. Last year was the deadliest year for journalists covering conflict since World War II. By comparison, 17 journalists died in Cambodia in 1970, the deadliest year for journalists covering conflict in southeast Asia from 1955-1975; and 17 journalists died covering the Korean War (1950-1953).

"Covering a war from the battlefield is the single most challenging, dangerous and important assignment any journalist can undertake," said Brokaw. "It encompasses all of the issues and emotions that define the human condition and it requires great courage, compassion and a fierce commitment to the fundamental mission of all journalism: tell the truth. In this case, tell the truth while under fire."

In addition to Bloom, journalists who died in Iraq include Michael Kelly, Washington Post columnist and editor at large for The Atlantic Monthly and the first U.S. journalist to die in Iraq; Boston Globe reporter Elizabeth Neuffer; and Los Angeles Times correspondent Mark Fineman. Reporters from Spain, Argentina, Great Britain, Iraq, Germany and Australia also lost their lives covering the conflict in Iraq. Tareq Ayyoub, a Jordanian journalist who was killed April 8 when U.S. missiles hit the Baghdad offices of Qatar-based Aljazeera. A U.S. State Department spokesman called the bombing "a grave mistake."

Reporters also were killed last year while covering conflict in India, Indonesia and Israel. More than a dozen others were murdered for their reporting or commentary on government, politics, or crime in Brazil, Cambodia, Colombia, India, Nepal, the Philippines and Russia.

"From every corner of the globe, we see tragic reminders that reporting the news can be difficult, dangerous and deadly," said Joe Urschel, executive director and senior vice president of the Newseum.

Earlier, journalists and other newspeople participated in a 7 a.m. reading of the 1,475 names of journalists who died reporting the news from 1812 through 2002. Participating journalists included: Helen Thomas (Hearst News Service), Martin Turner (BBC), Rob Doherty (Reuters), Frank Smyth (Committee to Protect Journalists), Paul Rees (Centurion RAS LTD), Fred Sweets (AP), Peter Canellos (Boston Globe), Jill Colgan (Australian Broadcasting Company) and Doyle McManus (Los Angeles Times).

Journalists' names are added each year to the glass panels of the monument, which stands at the apex of Freedom Park, adjacent to the Newseum and Freedom Forum offices at 1101 Wilson Boulevard in Arlington, Va. A list of the names of the 53 journalists who died in 2003 is attached. To view a database listing the 1,528 memorialized journalists, their affiliations and the circumstances of their death, visit the Newseum online at www.newseum.org/memorial.

World Press Freedom Day was established by the U.N. General Assembly on Dec. 20, 1993, on a recommendation by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Every year, May 3 is a day to remember and to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom. It serves as an occasion to inform citizens of press freedom violations — a reminder that in dozens of countries around the world, publications are censored, fined, suspended and closed down, while journalists, editors and publishers are harassed, attacked, detained and murdered.