Club displays Austin Tice banner in F Street window of National Press Building

In its latest effort to keep the case of award-winning journalist Austin Tice top of mind in Washington, the National Press Club recently worked out an arrangement to display a large banner with the words BRING AUSTIN HOME at the street level on the F Street side of the National Press Building near the historic Fox Arch.

Club members are encouraged to take a selfie with the sign and post on social media: “As a member of the National Press Club, I call on the U.S. government to act now to #BringAustinHome.” The goal is to generate hundreds of posts.

The sign was provided by the Washington Post, which created the banner for an event in front of the Post building in advance of the 10th anniversary of Austin’s abduction last August. Austin’s mother, Debra Tice, attended the ceremony, and Post publisher Fred Ryan spoke to the crowd at the unveiling. The sign hung over the Post entrance for about a month.

In mid-September, the Post approached the Club and asked if it would be interested in finding a way to display the banner at the Club. The Club is a member of the Washington Post Press Freedom Partnership, an alliance of the nation’s leading press freedom organizations.

The Club took possession of the banner in September and began negotiations with National Press Building management about displaying it. The banner was installed in the windows along F Street on Jan. 27.

"The Club is proud to be part of the Washington Post Press Freedom Partnership that has been raising awareness about the journalist Austin Tice, who has been missing for 10 years, 5 months and 15 days, and is still being held in Syria,” said Club President Eileen O’Reilly. “We support the Tice family in asking the National Security Council to act on President Biden's May 2 directive to have a dialogue with the Syrian government. We must bring Austin home."

The sign on F Street brings a reminder about Tice’s illegal detention back to downtown Washington in a new location. There had been signage at the former Newseum.

“I spoke to Mrs. Tice, and she was over the moon,” Club Executive Director Bill McCarren said of her reaction to the F Street banner. “She loves a 24/7 sign about Austin that the public can see.”

McCarren tweeted about the Tice banner on Monday. It generated more than 15,000 impressions across three Tweets in 24 hours.

The new banner home has been endorsed by Ryan and Michael Coleman, an editorial writer for the Austin American-Statesman who walked by the location every day for 13 years.

“You don’t get much more visible to the national/international media than that,” Coleman tweeted.

The plan is for the banner to remain in the F Street window for 90 days. The Club hopes Austin is home by then. It is well past time.