JournalismPakistan.com | Published December 29, 2018
Join our WhatsApp channel
NEW YORK - Reporters will be the guests of honor at the New Year’s Eve party in New York’s Times Square on Monday, in what organizers said was a celebration of press freedom after an unusually deadly year for journalists at U.S. news outlets.
Two attacks, in particular, weighed on organizers as they discussed in autumn whom to give the honor of initiating the ceremonial ball drop just before midnight, according to Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance.
One was the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi columnist for the Washington Post and U.S. resident, inside a Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey. The other was the mass shooting in June in the newsroom of The Capital, a newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland, in which five employees were killed.
“Throughout the year it’s been a big issue,” Tompkins said in an interview. “Times Square itself is the ultimate agora and public space,” noting that the area was named after the New York Times and that it was a Times publisher, Adolf Ochs, who began the tradition of the ball drop in 1907.
Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said the Times Square Alliance approached his group because of “the perception that the journalism and journalists, in particular, are under threat and their role is being questioned.”
Simon, who said he usually spends New Year’s Eve playing Scrabble with his wife in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, will be in the spotlight at the Times Square festivities, joining Mayor Bill de Blasio to launch the ball drop a minute before midnight.
Simon will be joined onstage by journalists from U.S. and international news outlets, including NBC Nightly News and Dateline NBC anchor Lester Holt, ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz, and Karen Attiah, global opinions editor at The Washington Post.
A year ago Attiah recruited Khashoggi to work at the newspaper. Since the writer was killed, she has been among those leading calls for answers about his fate.
The button-pressing honor has in previous years gone to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, an Iraq War veteran, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and the singer Lady Gaga.
The Times Square Alliance contacted Simon in November, Simon said, several weeks before Time magazine would devote their annual “Person of the Year” issue to several prominent journalists who have faced attacks and hostility.
Among those journalists were Khashoggi, and Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters reporters imprisoned by Myanmar for investigating how the country’s security forces killed members of the country’s Muslim Rohingya minority.
U.S. President Donald Trump has become a vociferous critic of parts of the press, routinely chiding reporters and outlets he views as publishing “fake news,” calling them “the enemy of the people.”
Simon said this was in the background of his discussions with the Times Square Alliance.
“Unavoidably, Trump was the subtext, but not front and center,” he said. “We wanted to have a unifying message.” - Reuters
June 11, 2025: Pakistan celebrated a narrow win over Bangladesh, but beneath the jubilation lies a deeper crisis—from sidelined veterans to a collapsing domestic structure—signaling an urgent need for cricket reform.
June 11, 2025: Journalists walked out of the post-budget press conference in Islamabad to protest the absence of a technical briefing and the government's dismissive behavior, calling it unacceptable and intolerable.
May 31, 2025: Dr. Nauman Niaz has issued a defamation notice to Shoaib Akhtar over derogatory remarks made during a recent broadcast, reigniting a longstanding media feud between the two prominent figures in Pakistan.
May 30, 2025: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has demanded the full repeal of PECA, citing its vague language, coercive powers, and threats to free speech and digital rights in Pakistan.
May 30, 2025: The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has condemned the murder of journalist Syed Mohammed Shah in Jacobabad, calling for urgent justice and improved safety for media professionals in Sindh.
May 26, 2025: In Rawalpindi, police allegedly side with Jang Group to block 66 reinstated employees from resuming work despite court orders, drawing sharp criticism from unions and press freedom advocates.
May 25, 2025: PFUJ condemns the Jang Group's decision to dismiss over 80 employees in Rawalpindi, calling it an 'economic massacre.' The union warns of nationwide protests if workers are not reinstated.
May 25, 2025: Daily Jang Rawalpindi has terminated over 80 employees, including female staff, despite multiple court rulings in their favor—raising concerns over labor rights violations and misuse of authority in Pakistani media.
May 19, 2025 PJS reports 219 Palestinian journalists killed in Israeli attacks since October 7, with 30 women among the victims. Over 430 were injured and 685 family members were killed. Read more on the systematic targeting of media in Gaza.
May 15, 2025 Discover the legacy of Samiullah Khan, Pakistan’s legendary "Flying Horse," whose breathtaking speed and artistry redefined hockey. From Olympic glory to World Cup triumphs, his story is one of myth, movement, and magic.
May 04, 2025 Algerian authorities suspend Echorouk News TV for 10 days after it used a racist slur against African migrants. ANIRA demands an apology, calling it a violation of human dignity.
May 04, 2025 NCHR and MMfD launch a journalism fellowship to train reporters on digital rights & gender inclusion in Pakistan. Supported by UNESCO, this initiative aims to bridge the gender digital divide. Apply by May 15, 2025!
April 23, 2025 Discover Dr. Nauman Niaz’s In A Different Realm: Story of Quadruple & Triple Centuries 1876–2025, a profound exploration of cricket's most monumental innings, blending historical analysis with poetic narrative.