Though it was published back in October, I only yesterday read this in-depth Texas Monthly story by Sonia Smith on Austin Tice.
Tice, a former Marine and budding freelance photojournalist, disappeared in Syria in 2012.
There has been little information available publicly since then about his fate, aside from a haunting video posted online after his apparent capture.
After reading the story, I came across some recent reports from earlier this month in which his parents say the Obama administration has told them they believe their son is alive.
Of course, it is unclear what will happen now with President-Elect Trump taking office.
The Texas Monthly story serves as a reminder of:
- Just how violent and long-running the Syria conflict has been
- The difficulty news organizations have had reporting on the situation, since journalists have specifically been targeted
- In Tice’s case, the risks that reporters have taken to cover the war — particularly freelancers, who may have little training and organizational support, and may be especially motivated to take risks in order to make a name for themselves.
For example, in the story, several fellow reporters say they cautioned the clearly brave Tice to be more cautious in his reporting, to not venture into especially dangerous areas, and not to post on social media about this whereabouts.