The four-year effort to find and free U.S. journalist Austin Tice, who vanished while reporting for McClatchy and other outlets in Syria, will get a boost in visibility next week with the unveiling of a banner in his honor at the Newseum in Washington.
The banner will hang on the façade of the Newseum, the museum dedicated to journalism, starting on Nov. 2, the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, according to a news release. A joint effort of the Newseum and the press rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders, the banner will show a photo of Tice alongside the words: “Held Captive for being a journalist since August 2012.”
“The banner will remain in place until he is safely returned home to his family,” the news release said.
The news release called the move unprecedented, saying it would be “the first time a major American institution such as the Newseum will display a public banner on its building for a missing American journalist.” Similar banners have been displayed in France and elsewhere in Europe for journalists who were missing or held hostage.
The location is also symbolic – the Newseum is on Pennsylvania Avenue, which connects the White House and the U.S. Capitol. Tice’s family has pressed for greater White House attention to his case, keeping pressure on President Barack Obama to make his return a priority before his term ends in January.
“In its prominent position on ‘America’s Main Street,’ ” this banner is intended to remind the president of his obligation to secure Austin’s safe return. It will also remind all who see it of the very real risks journalists take to ensure the basic human right to freedom of information, opinion and expression,” Tice’s parents, Debra and Marc Tice, said in a statement.
Tice, now 35, is a former Marine captain and law-school student who became a freelance reporter covering the war in Syria for McClatchy, The Washington Post and other outlets. He vanished in Syria in August 2012. Apart from a video clip showing him in the custody of unknown gunmen shortly after his disappearance, there’s been no confirmed sighting of Tice since. With his whereabouts still a mystery, Tice joins hundreds of Syrians who’ve simply disappeared in the midst of the country’s bloody, 5-year-old civil war.
The video, posted to YouTube on Sept. 26, 2012, shows Tice blindfolded and distressed as he’s being led up a hillside by gunmen. The video breaks off as he’s heard speaking broken Arabic, then saying, “Jesus. Oh, Jesus.”
Neither U.S. officials nor the Tices believe the Islamic State extremist group holds Tice. The Syrian government repeatedly has said it isn’t holding Tice and has no knowledge of his whereabouts.
“We hope this banner, prominently displayed on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of citizens and lawmakers alike, will raise awareness of his captivity and bring him one step closer to home,” said Jeffrey Herbst, president and CEO of the Newseum.
Hannah Allam: 202-383-6186, @HannahAllam
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