In Austin Tice, we have the longest-tenured U.S. hostage. At 11 years he has supplanted Terry Anderson – also a journalist. At this anniversary, we consider why journalists are so often held the longest or suffer fates like those of Danny Pearl, Jamal Khashoggi, and Shireen Abu Akleh. In light of new hostage cases like that of Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal, we must look at just why the government seems so unable in these cases of aggression toward journalists.
In this panel we will try to discover what are the special problems the government encounters when the hostage is a journalist and if there are ways to work around these problems or best practices that should be deployed.
It is honestly hard to find a government success story when it comes to freeing journalist hostages in the era of SPEHA. Possibly Danny Fenster would be one but the person who did the most to free him was explicitly told by the government not to do what he did. If left to the government plan, Danny may still be in prison. Jason Rezaian at 544 days was the best example of a successful case we have. This is grim news for Evan and any future journalists taken.
As for Austin, we will discuss his case and hear the latest from Debra before the panel begins. The event is open coverage, and we call on all Austin’s colleagues to come forward and say hello and support Debra.
When a journalist is taken it deprives citizens of the information they need to participate in a functioning democracy. They are more than hostages. And when a hostage is held for 11 years it makes the government look incredibly weak and disorganized and unable to project power around the globe.
Special thanks to the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal for their support of this event.
Join us ahead of the event at 9 a.m. for breakfast provided by the National Press Club.
Debra Tice is the mother of detained journalist Austin Tice. Unjustly detained in Syria since August 2012, Austin Tice is a freelance journalist who worked for both McClatchy and The Washington Post. Debra Tice, who spent 83 days in Syria looking for her son, has been advocating for his release for 11 years.
Jason Rezaian is a writer for Global Opinions. He served as The Post's correspondent in Tehran from 2012 to 2016. He spent 544 days unjustly imprisoned by Iranian authorities until his release in January 2016. He is a CNN contributor.
Paul Beckett is the Washington bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal. Thair journalist Evan Gershkovich was unjustly detained by Russia in March. President Biden and news organizations around the world have joined the Journal in calling for Mr. Gershkovich’s immediate release.