Michael Kelly
A journalist’s job is to bring society the news of the world no matter how grim it might be. War is no different and so it must be shown to the people, which is why journalists take up the difficult task of bringing war to light. Like everyone on the battlefield, a journalist is also a target, a participant, a casualty. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) two hundred nineteen journalists have lost their lives in Iraq alone since 1992. When comparing this number to the overall count of 1840 dead, a conclusion can be made that journalism evidently is a deadly profession.
My report is going to be about Michael Kelly, the first U.S. journalist killed while covering the war in Iraq.
Born in Washington, D.C. Kelly followed both of his parents into journalism. His mother is Marguerite Kelly, a columnist of "The Family Almanac" for The Washington Post, and his father was Thomas Vincent Kelly, a political and features reporter for The Washington Star.
Kelly, editor-at-large of the Atlantic Monthly and a columnist with The Washington Post, was killed while traveling with the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division just south of the Baghdad airport, according to a statement from The Washington Post.
As stated in Wikipedia, Kelly wanted to report on the start of the Iraq War in 2003. For this war, the U.S. military embedded journalists into coalition military units and Kelly acceded to this approach, as did around 600 other journalists.
According to the CPJ when the humvee in which Kelly was riding came under Iraqi fire, the soldier driving the vehicle tried to evade the attack, and the jeep ran off the road and rolled into a canal. Both Kelly and the driver drowned.
Kelly served as the editor of The New Republic and the National Journal.
According to BBC News. Kelly's death adds to the growing list of journalists killed and injured while covering the attack on Iraq by US and British forces.
The 46-year-old US reporter, who also wrote for the Washington Post, was known as a fiery columnist who had a conservative political outlook. In a column penned in February he wrote, "To march against the war is not to give peace a chance. It is to give tyranny a chance. It is to give the Iraqi nuke a chance. It is to give the next terrorist mass murder a chance."
John Fox Sullivan, president and group publisher of Atlantic Media, said, "Some people knew Michael as one of this country's most gifted writers and editors.”
In a later interview John Fox Sullivan expressed his deep admiration of Michael, “I knew him as an honest, funny, caring and even gentle human being.”
Every single one of us can learn a thing or two from Michael: his dedication, his honesty or even his sacrifice to the people. These are the aspects that we all should envision what a true journalist should be. As a future journalist I have come to the conclusion- dedication, no matter how dire the situation, should never be forsaken.
A journalist’s job is to bring society the news of the world no matter how grim it might be. War is no different and so it must be shown to the people, which is why journalists take up the difficult task of bringing war to light. Like everyone on the battlefield, a journalist is also a target, a participant, a casualty. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) two hundred nineteen journalists have lost their lives in Iraq alone since 1992. When comparing this number to the overall count of 1840 dead, a conclusion can be made that journalism evidently is a deadly profession.
My report is going to be about Michael Kelly, the first U.S. journalist killed while covering the war in Iraq.
Born in Washington, D.C. Kelly followed both of his parents into journalism. His mother is Marguerite Kelly, a columnist of "The Family Almanac" for The Washington Post, and his father was Thomas Vincent Kelly, a political and features reporter for The Washington Star.
Kelly, editor-at-large of the Atlantic Monthly and a columnist with The Washington Post, was killed while traveling with the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division just south of the Baghdad airport, according to a statement from The Washington Post.
As stated in Wikipedia, Kelly wanted to report on the start of the Iraq War in 2003. For this war, the U.S. military embedded journalists into coalition military units and Kelly acceded to this approach, as did around 600 other journalists.
According to the CPJ when the humvee in which Kelly was riding came under Iraqi fire, the soldier driving the vehicle tried to evade the attack, and the jeep ran off the road and rolled into a canal. Both Kelly and the driver drowned.
Kelly served as the editor of The New Republic and the National Journal.
According to BBC News. Kelly's death adds to the growing list of journalists killed and injured while covering the attack on Iraq by US and British forces.
The 46-year-old US reporter, who also wrote for the Washington Post, was known as a fiery columnist who had a conservative political outlook. In a column penned in February he wrote, "To march against the war is not to give peace a chance. It is to give tyranny a chance. It is to give the Iraqi nuke a chance. It is to give the next terrorist mass murder a chance."
John Fox Sullivan, president and group publisher of Atlantic Media, said, "Some people knew Michael as one of this country's most gifted writers and editors.”
In a later interview John Fox Sullivan expressed his deep admiration of Michael, “I knew him as an honest, funny, caring and even gentle human being.”
Every single one of us can learn a thing or two from Michael: his dedication, his honesty or even his sacrifice to the people. These are the aspects that we all should envision what a true journalist should be. As a future journalist I have come to the conclusion- dedication, no matter how dire the situation, should never be forsaken.