Scores of journalists have been killed across the globe this year, including horrific numbers in Gaza, as well as others in Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sudan, Myanmar and more, according to global press defenders monitoring the carnage. The final year-end tallies are still growing.
photo by Jose Hernandez Camera 51
The Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the USA (AFPC-USA) has joined the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders, other press freedom groups and leading global advocates to demand accountability for their deaths and an end to impunity for governments in the killing of reporters around the world.
The AFPC-USA recognized these devastating losses during the group’s annual award celebration and dinner on Dec. 4 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., where we honored professional excellence by our members and awarded scholarships to the next generation of foreign correspondents.
The most horrendous numbers of journalists have died in the Israel-Hamas conflict. Over the last year, at least 137 journalists and media workers have been killed — as of Dec. 11 — in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and Lebanon since the start of the war, according to the CPJ, one of the deadliest periods for journalists ever.
As vice president of the AFPC-USA, my colleagues and I on the executive board used the night to recognize the generous support of journalist colleagues. Our sponsors and partners who attended gave their support to the mission and role of foreign correspondents at this critical moment for a free press.
As we wrote in our program, it’s more important than ever to recognize the excellent work of our international media and to provide scholarships for the next generation of foreign reporters. The threats to journalists around the world and to press freedom at home and abroad have rarely been more perilous. This is not a seasonal battle. It is an ongoing effort, including reaching out to our government, international entities and the public at large.
Please join us in this fight with your voice, your efforts and your support.
Our foremost recognition goes to our stellar sponsors and partners who have contributed their time, effort and fiscal support enabling us to continue to expand our educational programming, our free press advocacy and other relevant services to the journalist community.
Beyond our traditional websites, seminars, trainings, posts and interviews, this year we have added the creation of a textbook — the first in over 20 years — which will be given to journalism schools in the U.S. as our gift to the future of international communications. The book, Being A Correspondent: Thoughts, Reflections, Experiences, was written by AFPC-USA Executive Director Thanos Dimadis, a veteran and experienced correspondent.
Of the many speakers at our event this month, Terry Moran of ABC News may have captured the essence of our work best with his tribute to the bravery of foreign correspondents the world over who do their vitally important work to uncover the truth in far-away places and bring those stories home to connect with the public around world:
"I'd like to hold in our hearts tonight, all those who are overseas right now, far away from home and [in] dark and dangerous places — places people don't want to go, places people are trying to get out of — and shine the light of truth on those places."
Especially relevant to the dangers and costs to this profession this year are the casualties in Gaza, where the sheer number of dead journalists may be the worst in history for any single conflict, and whose sacrifice may have received less attention amid the killing of more than 44,000 people there, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The AFPC-USA condemns this indiscriminate slaughter and underscores that many bodies of other slain journalists have not even been found or identified under the rubble of Gaza, and other reporters were killed along with numerous members of their families. The CPJ estimates the death toll for media thus far includes 129 Palestinian journalists, two Israeli journalists and six Lebanese journalists in the first 13 months of the war.
— Storer Rowley