Newhouse Memorial Wall Honors Journalists Killed Since 1992
Cheryl Hatch knew as soon as she saw acapturing the columns of names stretched across a wall inside the, that she had to see it.
The memorial display outside the JoyceHergenhanAuditorium lists the 2,510 journalists killed globally since 1992, along with the date and location of their death.
Hatch, a,covered conflict and its aftermath in the Middle East and Africa. Shedrove five and a half hours to seethe memorial, to find the names of friends and colleaguesshe’slost. When she arrived, she helped mount a photo of her friend,, in the gallery. Then, she placed her hands over each of her friends’ names: Gilkey,,,.
“Each year, sadly and horrifically, there are more and more journalists being killed,” Hatch says. “And when I was working in conflict zones, yes, people got killed, but now more frequently people are targeted. Some of my friends were targeted. It’s incredibly important to remember those names and remember their commitment to witnessing and documenting what’s happening in the world, literally giving their lives for it.”
Raising Awareness
The wall is part of a project developed by, an associate professor of visual communications and graduate program director for multimedia,photographyand design at Newhouse, thatseeksto honor media professionals who have been killed and raise awareness about the threats journalists face.
Harper says he was moved to create the memorial gallery and its accompanying event series,in response to the record number of journalists and media workers killed in 2024.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 124 journalists were killed in 2024, with 103 of the deaths related to their work. The rise was driven by the increase in deaths of journalists during the Israel-Hamas war, which has seen 250 journalists killed during the course of the ongoing war, .
“I thought, is there anything I can do to further the conversation?” Harper says. “To remember those people who gave their lives, to bring the truth forward and to shed light in places that arereally hardto be. They gave everything for it, and the least we can do is recognize that.”
Addressing Challenges
Harper says his hope is to bring people together for inclusive conversations around the broader consequences for journalism, exploring the risks of reporting on violence and conflict, while also preparing students planning to enter the profession.
Harper worked with fellow Newhouse professors,andto develop the, which includes discussions, film screenings and workshops on risk assessment and trauma-informed journalism. Events were held in the fall and will continue through the spring.
The memorial wall, which uses data from CPJ, was unveiled on Nov. 6 and will be on display untilJuly. Harper collaborated onthedesign for the wall with, lead artistic designer for theoffice of communications atNewhouse.
“Intellectual discussion is critical because it reminds us how real this is,” Harper says. “And then now what do you do about it? If journalism is anything,it’sabout practical ideas and solutions to real problems we bring forward to the community to address.”
Beyond the spring, Harper says he hopes to find a permanent home for the memorial on campus.He’salso looking for funders to create a traveling exhibitionfor the project, to bring the memorial wall to other journalism schools around the countryand internationally.
LoghmanFattahi, U.S. advocacy representative at CPJ, says documenting and preserving the stories of every journalistwho’sbeen killed is vital for pursuing accountability.
Until its, the Newseum honored journalists killed related to their work on a memorial wall. But Fattahisays he is not aware of any other current memorial to slain journalists listing the collective names as the “Silenced” project has, giving visitors a concrete visual for understanding the risks journalists around the world take in service to their vocation and society.
“The journalists have fallen in different places, in different contexts, different years, theirlives are taken by different actors and circumstances,” Fattahi says. “But seeing all their names together brings a sense of cohesion and wholeness to the bond among journalists and the role and importance of press freedom in bringing credible information, reliable information, independent information, to audiences all around the world.”
Remembering—And Continuing the Work
, a Fox Newsseniorcorrespondent, was on campus in November for his own reporting when he learned about the memorial gallery and that two of his former colleagues were included in the display. Hallcovering the Russian invasion alongside photojournalistand Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra “Sasha”Kuvshynovain March 2022 when their vehicle was struck by Russian fire, severely injuring Hall and killing his colleagues.
“I knew no matter how busy it was, I had to go down and see it,” Hall says. “Not only to pay respects to Pierre and to Sasha, and to every other journalist who’s lost their lives covering conflict, but to also just thank Syracuse for having this wall.”
Like Hatch and Fattahi, he says the memorial reminds people of the importance, not only of journalism and covering conflict, but of having reporters on the ground.
“In my eyes, journalism is more than just a job,” Hall says. “It’s more than just something you go and you do, to write stories here and there. It is something that has a vast impact on how society sees the world. It strives to educate people so they can help make better decisions, so they can hold governments to account, so they can hopefully try and change the world for the better.”
Zakrzewski andKuvshynova, and other former colleagues remembered on the wall, believed the work they were doing was essential, he says.
“They cared so deeply about what we were doing, and I know they would not want what happened to them to stop journalism,” he says. “They would not want people to stop telling these stories. No, they would want people to continue doing the work that they thought was so important.”
