20 Feb 2013
A Day Without News?
“Our goal is to see the successful prosecution of perpetrators of war crimes against journalists and to increase public awareness – and support from within the media community – for those organisations that are dedicated to this issue.”
I make no apologies for hi-jacking the text below – it’s the message that counts, not the messenger. By supporting this campaign you are supporting all those writers, film-makers and photographers who make it impossible for people to say ‘I didn’t know what was going on’. – Glyn Strong
“On 22 February 2012, war correspondent, Marie Colvin and photojournalist Rémi Ochlik were killed in Syria. Another 88 photojournalists and correspondents were killed in war zones in 2012 alone. It was the deadliest year on record, according to Reporters Without Borders, with a 33% increase in journalists killed. Committee to Protect Journalists reports further that since 1992, 971 journalists have been killed – “588 journalists were killed with complete impunity and 172 journalists were killed in combat.”
Aidan Sullivan, vice president at Getty Images, wants to do something effective about that.
He is leading the campaign A Day Without News? to make sure the world understands both the vital role correspondents and photojournalists play and the risks they face when reporting from war zones. Sullivan, Christiane Amanpour, chief international correspondent, CNN and Kira Pollock, director of photography, Time Magazine, are backing the campaign which aims to develop legal agendas to stop journalists from being targeted in conflict areas, and seek justice and prosecutions for the death of media in war zones. The campaign launches on the one year anniversary of the deaths of Colvin and Ochlik, February 22nd 2013. The website will go live and invite people to add their names to the growing list of supporters of the initiative. People will be encouraged to spread the word.
Tweet it-Blog it-Like it-Post it-Forward it-Email it. We need as many people as possible to sign the ‘support us’ button at A Day Without News?”
By advocating to governments, and partnering educational institutions and NGOs, the campaign creators intend to identify, investigate and ultimately prosecute cases where journalists and media personnel have been targeted and killed.
“Our goal is to see the successful prosecution of perpetrators of war crimes against journalists and to increase public awareness – and support from within the media community – for those organisations that are dedicated to this issue,” is the campaign’s mission.
Please do what you can.”