Newseum Will Host 2011 Journalists Memorial Rededication Ceremony on May 16

59 Journalists Killed in 2010 Will Be Added; 18 From Past Years

WASHINGTON, May 9, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Monday, May 16, the Newseum will host a ceremony to rededicate its Journalists Memorial, which honors newspeople who died or were killed in the pursuit of news. The Newseum will add the names of 59 journalists who died covering the news in 2010 to the memorial, along with an additional 18 from previous years.

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The ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. at the Newseum. Krishna Bharat, founder and head of Google News, and Alexander Lebedev, Russian businessman and co-owner of Novaya Gazeta, will speak at the rededication. Guests and Newseum visitors are invited to spend time at the Journalists Memorial on Level 3 of the Newseum before and after the program.

"Journalists are being targeted at unprecedented levels," said Charles L. Overby, chairman and chief executive officer of the Newseum. "The dangers facing journalists in conflicts around the world seem to be getting worse, not better."

In 2010, Pakistan ranked as the deadliest country in the world for journalists. Ten journalists died there in a series of incidents: Four were killed by suicide bomb blasts, four were targeted, and two died while covering ethnic fighting. In Mexico, the second-deadliest country for journalists last year, four of the seven deaths appear to be directly linked to journalists' coverage of the government's ongoing struggle with drug trafficking. At a press conference on May 2, Freedom House announced that it had downgraded Mexico's level of press freedom to "not free" on the Newseum's world press freedom map, in part because journalists there continue to be targeted for their reporting.

With the addition of these 77 names, the memorial will honor a total of 2,084 reporters, photographers, broadcasters and news executives from around the world, dating back to 1837.

Five Deadliest Years for Journalists
2007: 95 deaths
1994: 94 deaths
1991: 93 deaths
2009: 88 deaths
2004: 79 deaths

Deadliest Countries in 2010
Pakistan: 10
Mexico: 7
Iraq: 6

About the Journalists Memorial

The Newseum dedicated its Journalists Memorial on April 4, 2008, seven days before the Newseum's Grand Opening. The memorial previously had been displayed in Freedom Park at the Newseum's former site in Arlington, Va. As of 2011, the memorial honors 2,084 individuals. The Journalists Memorial gallery also features hundreds of photographs of the honored journalists as well as kiosks where information on each person can be accessed. The online Journalists Memorial database can be accessed at this link: Journalists Memorial. On Wednesday, May 11, the Newseum and YouTube will launch a Journalists Memorial YouTube channel chronicling the legacies of the men and women honored on the memorial.

About the Newseum

The Newseum — a 250,000-square-foot museum of news — offers visitors an experience that blends five centuries of news history with up-to-the-second technology and hands-on exhibits. Within its seven levels of galleries and theaters, the Newseum offers a unique environment that takes museum-goers behind the scenes to experience how and why news is made. Follow the Newseum on Facebook and Twitter.

SOURCE Newseum