The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, was in London on 16 June to unveil a memorial to fallen journalists and newsgatherers.
In an event co-hosted by the BBC and the International News Safety Institute
attended by members of some of the families who have lost relatives engaged in
newsgathering around the world, the Secretary-General acknowledged the work of
journalists covering the world’s news stories, paying tribute to their bravery
which he said enabled millions of people to learn the truth.
Rodney Pinder, Director of INSI, said "These men and women are the unsung
heroes of democracy, for without a free press there can be no freedom."
The
memorial is on the roof of Egton House, immediately alongside the BBC’s
Broadcasting House – currently being redeveloped to create a new home for all
BBC journalism including its international TV and radio services – and is a
glass sculpture designed by Spanish visual arts sculptor Jaume Plensa. The
sculpture bears the words of a poem written by British poet and war
correspondent James Fenton.
The light sculpture will send a beam of light up to 900 metres into the sky
above London every evening at 2200 local time.
Watch the BBC News report
here.