“Risking one’s life to get the story, to show the suffering, to try to make a difference, to stop the madness.”  This is how Egyptian-Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy describes his job.*  The numbers confirm those risks. Worldwide in 2020, 32 journalists were killed, 274 imprisoned, and 64 are missing.**  In that increasingly fraught atmosphere, responsible journalists work to maintain the bedrock of accountable government and human rights: uncensored, reliable information.  More than ever before, journalists have to muster civil courage in order to do their important work.

What is civil courage?  The Wallenberg-Sugihara Civil Courage Society (WSCCS) recognises civil courage when someone incurs personal risk to defend human rights or to directly help victims of injustice or abuse.  Raoul Wallenberg and Chiune Sugihara exemplified civil courage as they took great risks to save Jews from the Holocaust.  Each January, on Raoul Wallenberg Day, the WSCCS recognizes stories of civil courage in our midst, today.

* Fahmy, Mohamed (2016) The Marriott Cell, p.293

** Committee to Protect Journalists