Special Program: Journalists Memorial Rededication Ceremony

Guests: Krishna Bharat and Alexander Lebedev

WASHINGTON — The names of 59 international journalists who died covering the news in 2010 were added to the Newseum's Journalists Memorial in a ceremony held May 16 in the Knight TV Studio.

An additional 18 journalists who died in previous years and came to the Newseum's attention in 2010 will also be added. With these new names, there are now 2,084 journalists honored on the memorial, dating from 1837.

In his welcoming address, Charles Overby, chief executive officer of the Newseum, noted that journalists are still being killed every year at alarming rates.

"Sadly, we know that this time next year, we will have to rededicate the memorial with new names of brave journalists who have died," he said.

The annual ceremony drew family, friends and colleagues of the fallen journalists.

Krishna Bharat, founder and head of Google News and one of two featured speakers, praised the "exceptional journalists" who "chose to walk a path that was not paved in gold but in danger."

Bharat, who said he gained his love for foreign viewpoints while listening to radio news in India with his late grandfather, asked the guests to honor the fallen journalists by remembering them and their work.

"Let their stories not be forgotten," he said. "Let us repeat them and retweet them so that the world knows that silencing a journalist simply does not pay."

Pakistan, Mexico and Iraq were the top three deadliest countries for journalists in 2010. Of the seven deaths in Mexico, four appeared directly linked to the government's ongoing struggle with drug trafficking and journalists' coverage of that story. In Iraq, five of the six journalists killed were targeted. Four of the 10 journalists killed in Pakistan were killed by suicide bombs.

Alexander Lebedev, co-owner of Novaya Gazeta, a newspaper noted for its investigations of Russian politics and politicians, recalled in his address the recent murder of one his reporters whose killers received long prison terms — one, a life sentence. Lebedev said he made a commitment to take on global corruption and to support journalists around the world.

"We can bring to justice those who are standing behind the injustices and tragedies," he said. "We will do whatever is needed to support independent journalism."