GlobalPost | Committee to Protect Journalists | Associated Press | The Daily Northwestern | The Atlantic
Friday marked one year since American freelance journalist James Foley went missing in Syria.
“In order to preserve the security of our investigation, we’ve been unable to share much detailed information with the public or even with the GlobalPost family,” writes Philip Balboni, GlobalPost’s CEO and president. “But please know that our search for Jim has not slowed and that there are important leads being actively pursued even at this moment.”
- Foley in 2011 (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
Austin Tice, another U.S. freelance journalist missing in Syria, passed the one-year mark in August. Tice was reporting for The Washington Post and McClatchy, among others. Foley was reporting for GlobalPost and Agence France-Presse.
In June, senators in Texas and New Hampshire urged the State Department to push harder to find Foley and Tice.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has also reported on numerous other international journalists missing in Syria. On Nov. 18, David Rohde wrote in The Atlantic that “Syria today is the scene of the single largest wave of kidnappings in modern journalism, more than in Iraq during the 2000s or Lebanon during the 1980s.”
The Associated Press also reported on serious issues facing journalists in Syria on Nov. 9. Zeina Karam wrote that at least 30 journalists have disappeared or been kidnapped in Syria this year.
“The widespread seizure of journalists is unprecedented,” Karam wrote, “and has been largely unreported by news organizations in the hope that keeping the kidnappings out of public view may help to negotiate the captives’ release.”
Cat Zakrzewski reported Friday on Foley’s family and a day of prayer for The Daily Northwestern. Zakrzewski writes that the Foley family first announced Foley’s capture in January.
“This is a somber day for us; but also a day to renew our commitment to find our beloved Jim and bring him home,” Diane and John Foley wrote in a statement Tuesday. “Jim will return home; but as many of his dear friends know, he tends to run late….”
Comments