Biden approves Fallen Journalists Memorial
National Mall site will be the first of its kind built on federal land
A memorial to honor fallen journalists will be built at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., after President Joe Biden gave final authorization for the location last week.
The memorial, the first of its kind to be built on federal land, will be located between the Voice of America building and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. On Dec. 23, Biden signed the 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Act, which included a provision for the memorial’s placement co-sponsored by Maryland Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen and Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican from Ohio.
The Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation announced plans for the effort in June 2019, near the one-year mark of the mass shooting at The Capital newsroom on June 28, 2018. Five people — Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith and Wendi Winters — were killed by a man with a shotgun during the attack on the Annapolis new organization’s office. It is considered the deadliest attack on journalists in American history.
“Thanks to President Biden and my former colleagues in Congress for approving the location of the Fallen Journalists Memorial adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, DC,” David Dreier, founder and chairman of the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation, said in a news release. “This will allow us to build the memorial at the center of the nation’s capital. It will commemorate our country’s commitment to a free press by honoring journalists who have sacrificed their lives. This memorial will educate and inspire current and future generations to come.”
Dreier, a former congressman and a former chair of the Tribune Publishing Co. board of directors, was inspired to establish a memorial commemorating the free press and honor those journalists who have died while doing their jobs, including the five Capital staffers. The Capital is owned by Baltimore Sun Media, a subsidiary of Tribune Publishing.
Congress first authorized planning and fundraising for the memorial’s construction in December 2020. A few weeks later, then-President Donald Trump signed the bill into law. National monuments with congressional authorization must start construction within seven years. With Biden’s approval the foundation said it will “accelerate [its] efforts around design, construction, educational programming, fundraising and other aspects of the memorial project.”
According to its website, the foundation is working with architecture critic Paul Goldberger
to create a process for designing the memorial and selecting an architect. The foundation estimates the project could cost up to $50 million and will be funded entirely by private donations. At least 10% of the funding will go to the National Park Service for maintenance. Additional funds will be used to offer educational programming.
In July 2021, the foundation announced it received $6 million in grant funding to support the early stages of the memorial from the Annenberg Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides funding and support to other nonprofits in the United States and around the world, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, a nonprofit that provides grants in journalism and communities.
“The First Amendment right to free press is foundational to who we are as a nation and our democracy. With this memorial, we will honor the lives of those who died reporting the news and supporting a free media on behalf of the American people,” Cardin said in a news release. “The National Memorial to Fallen Journalists will be a steadfast symbol of the sacrifice of those who take on the responsibility of transparency and accountability that is inherent in free and open media. These men and women have made our nation stronger.”
The country has a “moral obligation” to honor the sacrifices of journalists, Van Hollen said in the release. “This memorial will help do just that.”
The mall has been without a dedicated memorial to the free press since the Newseum closed in 2019. The museum featured a memorial for journalists killed while doing their job, including those from The Capital.
Since the mass shooting, another memorial, the Guardians of the First Amendment Memorial at Newman Park, was established in downtown Annapolis. Community and political leaders joined with the families of Capital shooting victims and journalists in June to mark four years since the attack.