And Then They Came For Me

Lasantha Wickrematunge, a journalist in Sri Lanka, was murdered last Thursday. He knew it was coming and wrote a column about it ... http://www.thesundayleader.lk/20090111/editorial-.htm

Coverage of his murder ... http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1870440,00.html

We do a lot of bitching and moaning about the state of our business around here. But I'm honored to even remotely be in the same line of work as Wickrematunge.

 

That's a hell of a scoop.

 

I wonder, how long before his death did he write that?

 

Wow. Just. Wow.

Thanks for the link, Inky.

 

Every journalist should read a book called "A Russian Diary" by Anna Politkovskaya. She was one of the few journalists in Russia shining light on some of the atrocious things the government did. Her diary only ends because she was killed, almost assuredly by the government.

 

I was thinking that, too? And what were the signs he saw beforehand that made him so sure he would soon be killed?

 

This is the kind of thing I point to when people ask why I'm still in this business, despite all the bad news. Granted, my situation, and most of our situations, are nothing even close to what this guy endured, but there's still that kinship, that fraternity that we feel with each other. You simply don't get that in most lines of work.

 

you're so right.
i tell you, after reading that thread and the one about the female journalist in Nepal, makes you appreciate the job you've got a little more. now, that coach who flipped out after a game doesn't seem so bad, does it?

 

Google "The Sunday Leader," you'll find the entire Jan. 11 issue. I found no hint of when he wrote the piece, but there is background on the long-running war against the media in general and Wickrematunge in particular.

 

Ramen noodles / free internet wisecracks in 5...4...3...

 

I suspect that was saved somewhere offline — on a CD-R or a flash drive — with instructions for his staff as follows: "If they come for me, if they murder me, publish this. Even in death, I shall not be silenced."

So say we all.

 

I swear, I thought this was going to be about more layoffs when I saw the title thread.

Man, how terrible. I can't imagine going to work knowing there was a good chance I would not return home to my family.