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john Cochran

“Our goal is to dedicate the memorial in June of 2028,” the 10th anniversary of the Capital Gazette attack, says Barbara Stubbs Cochran ’67, president of the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation. The memorial will be made of borosilicate glass elements around a stainless steel disc engraved with the words of the First Amendment.

barbara stubbs cochran ’67

Journalist

Protecting Freedom of the Press

She’s working to honor fallen journalists

by Nia King

barbara stubbs cochran ’67 is leading efforts to build a monument on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., dedicated to press freedom and journalists who died in the line of duty. “At a time when journalists are facing great dangers around the world, our hope is that visitors will pay their respects to the fallen and appreciate the vital role these journalists play in advancing and preserving democracy,” says Cochran.

Cochran’s interest in journalism began at Swarthmore, where she worked at The Phoenix for three years, becoming editor-in-chief her junior year. After earning her master’s in journalism at Columbia, she joined the Washington Star and worked her way up to managing editor. She went on to NPR, launching Morning Edition, then on to NBC, becoming executive producer of Meet The Press. She was later recruited to CBS. Cochran was serving as Washington bureau chief for CBS News when the first Gulf War broke out and correspondent Bob Simon and his team were taken captive by Iraqi soldiers.

barbara stubbs cochran ’67

Journalist

They were released when the war ended, but not every journalist Cochran has worked with has been so lucky. In 1990, she co-founded the International Women’s Media Foundation with a group of fellow women journalists who called themselves “the founding mothers.” “We began with an award for courage in journalism that we presented to three or four women from around the world every year,” says Cochran. “Some of the people that we had honored with the Courage Award were killed: Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist who was murdered by Putin’s regime, and Marie Colvin, who was killed covering the civil war in Syria.” But the deadliest attack on American journalists was a 2018 mass shooting in Annapolis, Md. “[The shooter] stormed into the newsroom of the Capitol Gazette, and began firing around their newsroom, killed five people who worked there, and wounded two others.”

When the attack happened, former congressman David Dreier was on the board of Tribune Publishing, which owned the Capitol Gazette. “He became concerned that the people were being forgotten,” says Cochran, and the idea for the memorial was born. Dreier is chairman and Cochran is president of the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation. In 2020, they received authorization from Congress to build a memorial on public land to honor journalists who died in service of freedom of the press. It will be sited on the National Mall at 3rd Street and Independence Avenue SW, just three blocks from the Capitol.

“The First Amendment is the unique American innovation to codify freedom of the press as part of our Constitution,” says Cochran. “You’ll read the words, and then you’ll look up and see the Capitol dome rising above this glass wall, which symbolizes journalism as a pillar of democracy, and also the role of journalists as watchdogs over the government.”

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