The family of award-winning journalist Austin Tice, who has been detained in Syria since 2012 while covering escalating conflict in the region, and the National Press Club Journalism Institute have launched a new campaign asking the White House to free Austin and bring him safely home by Thanksgiving.
You can play a part by joining the letter-writing campaign, too!
Tice, a writer and photographer, veteran Marine Corps captain, and Georgetown Law student, was detained three days after his 31st birthday, more than eight years ago. The U.S. government believes Austin is alive and being held by an affiliate of the Syrian government.
"Every second he stays in captivity cuts a deeper wound in the hearts of my family, and we can wait no longer… . As we approach a ninth holiday season with an empty chair at our family's Thanksgiving, a ninth Christmas spent wondering if Austin can see the stars, my brothers and sisters and I implore you from the depths of our hearts: Please help," wrote Jacob Tice, in an op-ed published on hundreds of news websites across the country, coordinated and led by McClatchy and including CNN, Fox News, Time, the USA Today network, Tribune publications, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Military Times and many others.
As part of the #FreeAustinTice campaign, the National Press Club Journalism Institute is mobilizing people around the country to urge their Members of Congress to send a letter to President Donald Trump reminding him to keep Austin's safe return a top priority. Hundreds of people have responded by sending letters to their election officials. To send a letter to your Members of Congress right now, use this form. The letter is written for you and takes less than 60 seconds to send.
This effort takes place a year after dozens of volunteers canvassed the offices of every sitting member of Congress in one day, urging them to ask about Austin’s case in briefings and to urge that every diplomatic effort be made to bring him home to his family. Sunday, Sept. 27, marked one year since 173 of those lawmakers signed a letter to President Trump on Austin’s behalf.
On Sept. 25, the Institute asked the 173 members of Congress who signed that letter to send another message urging the administration to bring Austin home by Thanksgiving.
"No journalist should be detained for doing their job, and no family should have to suffer as the Tices have, worrying about when they will see their child again," said Angela Greiling Keane, president of the National Press Club Journalism Institute and managing editor, States and Canada, POLITICO. "We join the Tices in urging the White House and State Department to continue to use every diplomatic resource to secure Austin's safe release and return by Thanksgiving."
For additional information, email Julie Moos, executive director of the National Press Club Journalism Institute, at [email protected].
