WASHINGTON – The mother of James Foley—an American journalist killed by ISIS militants last year—is imploring the American press to stand by freelancers who are captured while reporting abroad.
“As Americans, I think we need to do some soul searching,” said Diane Foley, who has been outspoken since her son was beheaded by the extremist group while working as a freelancer for GlobalPost in Syria.
“Years ago, big news organizations would support foreign offices. But that’s not the case anymore because it’s been hard for print journalism. They’ve tried to find a different model to work off of,” Foley said. “Jim chose to be a freelancer, but in choosing to do that, it became increasingly dangerous.”
Diane Foley spoke Wednesday to reporters at the Medill School of Journalism’s Washington bureau, where her son studied in 2007. (Olivia Marcus)
Freelancers are often paid per story, which is less expensive than maintaining a news bureau; they sometimes report from the frontlines of combat zones with little to no security.
“Jim knew they were using him,” said Foley. “But he also knew and felt deeply that those stories had to be told. And he knew if he could share them with some of the big news organizations, the stories would get out there.”
James Foley was captured once before, in 2011, by Moammar Gadhafi loyalists in Libya. But six weeks later—after public appeals from the media and the U.S. government—he was set free by Libyan authorities.
After her son was captured for the second time, Foley said the government and media didn’t do enough to help. U.S. hostage policy, which has come under fire in recent years for being unclear and inconsistent, apparently prevented the government from paying a ransom, and Foley said there was “no organized advocacy” from the American media.
Foley said other countries have a better track record when it comes to supporting freelancers who are captured abroad, noting the successful effort by French journalists who worked with their government to help secure the release of colleagues being held hostage by ISIS in 2014.
“I think he really believed that our country and the American media would be powerful enough to make it happen. And that didn’t happen,” Foley said, referring to the fact that her son was never released. “I feel strongly that we can do better. The American press can do better.”
Foley said the foundation she established in her son’s name, the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, is working to support freelancers and will hold a conference on the topic and other issues in New York in May.
“We’re hoping that the foundation can get it out there. The public doesn’t know—I didn’t even know—how we get the news. It’s often a courageous freelancer who’s out there, who dares to stay there long enough to really know what’s going on.”
Foley spoke Wednesday to reporters at the Medill School of Journalism’s Washington bureau, where her son studied in 2007. Diane Foley was given the school’s medal for courage in journalism, renamed the James Foley Medill Medal of Courage, which was awarded to her son posthumously.
Foley lives in Rochester, New Hampshire with her husband John. James Foley was the oldest of their five children.
