Syria: Homage to American Journalist Marie Colvin Killed in Homs  · Global Voices
Ahmed Medien

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011/12.
Marie Colvin and Rémi Olchik were killed last week, when the makeshift media centre they were at in Baba Amr, in Homs, Syria, was attacked. Both were journalists on a mission. She was the Sunday Times’ foreign correspondent and he was her photographer.
On Thursday, February 23, 2012, the world woke up to the news of their death under the debris of the press center that was targeted by pro-Assad forces. Both international media outlets and netizens around the world paid homage to the murdered journalists, whose death captured headlines, drawing attention to the plight of Syrians being killed on a daily basis for protesting against the Assad regime.
On Facebook, users created a page called Marie Colvin's Eyepatch, in reference to her left-eye patch from an injury she had received more than ten years ago while covering the conflict between the government and the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka.
Hundreds of Facebook users from across the world expressed their condolences on the group. Some were fans, others were former colleagues and the rest were journalists whom she had worked with on other battlefields, such as in Misrata, Libya.
Here is a sample of reactions from the Facebook page:
Ruhe in Frieden… Heldin!
we don't forget u libyan rebels we love u i remember when u was with in front line
What a courageous woman you were…I truly admire you …youre legacy will live on..RIP
The commentators remembered Colvin as a brave journalist who had the courage to cover wars from the front lines, from Chennai, India, to Misrata, Libya to Homs, Syria.
Many other known personalities in the media also used social media to pay tribute to Colvin by sharing her latest's journalistic work.
Piers Morgan notes:
@piersmorgan: Just read a quite brilliant tribute to Marie Colvin by her Sunday Times Editor, John Witherow, in tonight's paper. Really superb.
And Shadi Hamid adds:
@ShadidHalid: Colvin died on Wednesday. This is her last, heart-breaking dispatch from Baba Amr: thetim.es/yLem2w #Syria
But, only two days after the tragic death of Olchik and Colvin, the Syrian state television Al Ikhbaria Suria released a video denying any responsibility over the murder of both Journalists.
The video (link above) suggested that Colvin and Ochlik could have been intelligence agents who got into the country secretly – which they did – to help support armed groups in the opposition.
A few days after the attack, the Syrian regime said the slain journalist will be buried in Syria and will not be extradited back to the United States.
Christiane Amanpour ‏tweets:
@camanpour OFFICIALS REFUSE TO LET MARIE COLVIN'S BODY BE RECOVERED. SIEGE CONTINUES. SHE'LL BE BURIED WHERE SHE FELL
At the same time, CNN – Anderson Cooper's AC360 – just released a video of Colvin's mother Rosanne Colvin: “I want my daughter home.”
In the preview video of Anderson Cooper's Monday night show, Rosanne Clovin asserted that “they [Colvin's family] are going to do it no matter how difficult it is or how long it will take.”
The death of Colvin was a sad news for the media world and news junkies who had lost a great female journalist who clearly understood the essence of journalism.
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011/12.