American Society of News Editors calls for global moment of silence
The American Society of News Editors is asking newsrooms worldwide to observe a moment of silence Thursday to honor the five Capital Gazette employees killed in Annapolis last week.
The request followed plans by the publisher and editor in chief of The Baltimore Sun Media Group and parent company tronc to mark the attack.
ASNE asked “newsrooms around the globe to join The Baltimore Sun Media Group in a moment of silence for contemplation, prayer, reflection or meditation” at 2:33 p.m. Thursday.
That’s exactly one week after a gunman entered the Capital Gazette newsroom and opened fire, killing five: Editorial page editor Gerald Fischman, 61; assistant editor and columnist Rob Hiaasen, 59; sportswriter John McNamara, 56; Rebecca Smith, 34, a sales assistant hired in November; and Wendi Winters, 65, a community correspondent in charge of special publications.
Trif Alatzas, publisher and editor in chief of the The Baltimore Sun Media Group, which owns The Sun and the Capital Gazette, announced the moment of silence in a letter to colleagues Monday.
Justin Dearborn, tronc CEO, asked employees across the company to observe the moment of silence. Tronc, which also owns the Chicago Tribune, the New York Daily News and other newspapers, has established a fund for families, victims and survivors and a memorial scholarship fund for journalism students at the University of Maryland College Park.