Risking Their Lives to Tell the Truth

Mary Calvin

Journalist Marie Colvin, killed along with French photojournalist Remi Ochlik during the Syrian Army shelling of Baba Amr in Homs, knew war.

Colvin lost an eye while covering war in Sri Lanka. As her longtime friend BBC correspondent Jim Muir recalled in a tribute, "She, more than anybody, knew the dangers of war. It's not about glamour, it's not about glory. It's about people being torn to pieces."

But she kept going back. “I'm trying to bear witness. ... The pain of war is beyond telling," Colvin said upon accepting the 2000 International Women’s Media Foundation Courage award.

The day Colvin was killed, citizen journalist Rami al-Sayed also was killed in Baba Amr. His online video posts kept the world informed of the destruction in Homs. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, eight journalists have been killed in Syria in the past four months.

In Iran, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia, Zimbabwe and wherever crises arise, brave journalists continue to risk their lives to tell the truth.