A new book from The Committee to Protect
Journalists (CPJ) delivers an essential message for our times. It's a haunting message, too.
Entitled “The Last Column,” the work pays tribute to the 1,337 journalists killed - too often, murdered - in the line of duty since 1992 by reproducing many of their final stories. It may be difficult to see as a design element, but the book’s cover (pictured below) depicts the names of the more than 1,300 dead journalists, columnists, and photographers. We know some of their names, of course, such as Marie Colvin, Daniel Pearl, James Foley, and Jamal Khashoggi. Most of them labored heroically and anonymously to many us, however, though we remain forever in their debt.
Dictators, autocrats, and authoritarians of all stripes always attempt to discredit and silence the press. It’s a predictable albeit dangerous cliche right out of every strongman’s playbook. Some take the proposition much further, however, by having those that speak truth to power murdered. Vladimir Putin has more blood on his hands in this regard than, say, Moscow’s most thuggish gangster. Indeed, Putin is Moscow’s most thuggish gangster.
While these tinpots, crackpots, and narcissistic sociopaths come and go, often undone by serious journalists doing their jobs, they leave untold damage in their wakes. What should never change, however, is society’s firm embrace of the essential task of real journalism and our gratitude that it exists in the first place.
Entitled “The Last Column,” the work pays tribute to the 1,337 journalists killed - too often, murdered - in the line of duty since 1992 by reproducing many of their final stories. It may be difficult to see as a design element, but the book’s cover (pictured below) depicts the names of the more than 1,300 dead journalists, columnists, and photographers. We know some of their names, of course, such as Marie Colvin, Daniel Pearl, James Foley, and Jamal Khashoggi. Most of them labored heroically and anonymously to many us, however, though we remain forever in their debt.
Dictators, autocrats, and authoritarians of all stripes always attempt to discredit and silence the press. It’s a predictable albeit dangerous cliche right out of every strongman’s playbook. Some take the proposition much further, however, by having those that speak truth to power murdered. Vladimir Putin has more blood on his hands in this regard than, say, Moscow’s most thuggish gangster. Indeed, Putin is Moscow’s most thuggish gangster.
While these tinpots, crackpots, and narcissistic sociopaths come and go, often undone by serious journalists doing their jobs, they leave untold damage in their wakes. What should never change, however, is society’s firm embrace of the essential task of real journalism and our gratitude that it exists in the first place.
Image courtesy of The Last Column.