Campaigners back first memorial to UK journalists killed while working in conflict zone

Release time：2024-06-03 22:24:49 Source：Worldly Window news portal

A new campaign has been launched to set up the first memorial to UK journalists killed while working in conflict zones.

The organisers plan for a sculpture to be commissioned and located at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

Some 16 UK journalists have been killed carrying out their work since 2000, according to industry website Press Gazette.

Among these were Sunday Times foreign correspondent Marie Colvin, who was killed in Syria in 2012, and Sky News cameraman Mick Deane, who was shot in Cairo in 2013.

Freelance photographer Tim Hetherington lost his life in Libya in 2011, while Lyra McKee was fatally shot in Northern Ireland in 2019.

Among these were Sunday Times foreign correspondent Marie Colvin (pictured), who was killed in Syria in 2012, and Sky News cameraman Mick Deane, who was shot in Cairo in 2013

Cameraman Mick Deane, who was shot dead covering clashes in Egypt in 2013

Freelance photographer Tim Hetherington lost his life in Libya in 2011, while Lyra McKee was fatally shot in Northern Ireland in 2019. Pictured: Tim Hetherington's self portrait in an exhibition of his work 

On The Record: The National Memorial to Journalists on the Frontline campaign is being headed by communications executive Andrew Baud in partnership with Press Gazette.

It is hoped the memorial would offer families, friends and colleagues the chance to remember those that have lost their lives, as well as being a place visited by schoolchildren and the public.

There are plans to also have a digital database which would include stories about the lives of the journalists that have been killed, leaving a record of their legacy.

Dominic Ponsford, Press Gazette's editor-in-chief, said: 'Journalists risk their lives every day to shine a light into some of the darkest corners of the world.

'This memorial should serve as a reminder of the importance of the work we all do in the news business.'

Mr Baud, who is understood to have been closely working with the arboretum for 16 years, added: 'Having worked with journalists for my whole professional life and understanding the importance of remembering those who have sacrificed their lives for the greater good, the creation of a memorial to journalists reporting from the frontline has become a personal mission for me.'

Figures from the International Federation of Journalists say that last year 128 journalists were killed around the world.

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