Day 24
Country: Syria
Journalist: Austin Tice
Media: freelancer for McClatchy and The Washington Post
Missing since: August 13, 2012
Suggested Tweet:
'30 Days for Freedom' calls for release of Austin Tice and all journalists held captive in #Syria bit.ly/QKHxHz [1] #FreethePress
From law school to war zone, American freelance journalist Austin Tice took a less conventional path to reporting in a battle zone. The former U.S. Marine who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan put his last year of law school at Georgetown University on hold to cover the Syrian war. Tice had long been interested in journalism, and frustrated with the coverage he saw on Syria he decided to do something about it himself. He traveled to southern Turkey and crawled under a fence - without any visa like the majority of foreign journalists - into northern Syria.
A fledgling, determined journalist, Tice had an agreement with McClatchy as a photojournalist. Once on the ground he regularly produced reports for the agency and The Washington Post, among other outlets, and became known as a solid reporter, earning him the prestigious 2012 George Polk Award for War Reporting. But, four months into his stay, he vanished from the Damascus suburbs where he was living and working on August 13, 2012, just two days after his 31st birthday.
Tice has not been alone in the risks he’s faced covering Syria’s bloody, protracted war. Engulfed in violence since March 2011, Syria is the most dangerous country in the world for journalists. More than 60 reporters have been killed since the start of the conflict, and around 30 journalists are believed to have been kidnapped in Syria, many of whom are still missing. Some are held by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) or other factions, others by the government. Many media organisations do not publicly discuss if their staff have been kidnapped in order to facilitate negotiations for their release.
Suggested Tweet:
'30 Days for Freedom' calls for release of Austin Tice and all journalists held captive in #Syria bit.ly/QKHxHz [1] #FreethePress
Resources:
- Family’s website for Austin Tice: http://www.austinticefamily.com/ [2]
- McClatchy, Washington Post press for release of missing journalist Austin Tice http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/12/23/178125/mcclatchy-washington-post-press.html [3]
- CPJ information on Syria: https://cpj.org/mideast/syria/ [4]