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Picture
IN MEMORY OF KIM WALL
(1987-2017)
​
THE FIRST PLACE AWARDEE
​IN THE 2013
FOREIGN PRESS SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS
By Joanna Nurmis
(AKA Joanna Margueritte-Giecewicz)


I met Kim on 9th May, 2013 at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. We went there to receive our awards in the Foreign Press Association’s 2013 Scholarship Award ceremony – she had First Place, two students Second Place, and two others, including me, Third Place. (View photo, below).

We were all very excited to be there and to be honored at a fancy dinner with our invited guests and prominent journalists in attendance. I shared a table with Kim and the other awardees, and I remember very well the impression she made on me: that of an extremely confident, lively, friendly, and attentive person who was both completely present and relishing the moment, and at the same time not consumed by it, not completed by it. I knew there was much more to Kim than I could see. Yet she had not a hint of arrogance about holding First Place; rather, she was there to share in the celebration of young foreigners studying journalism in the United States.

Today while taking a break from work to read the news, I stumbled upon a story about the development in the freak death of a Swedish journalist – and I started paying attention. For the first time, the journalist’s name caught my eye. I suddenly realized, in a way you realize something that you know there is no way can be explained away, definitively and instantly: she was the victim. The Kim I knew from that dinner four years ago, and whom I still vividly remember.

Many are underscoring how this tragic, ghastly death brings the perils of freelancing, especially for women, to the forefront – and not just in dangerous places like Sri Lanka and North Korea, where Kim also went, but even in “home territory,” in the comforts of a developed country – Denmark. Kim was well aware of risks and like many freelancers, had HEFAT (hostile environment and first aid) training. It didn’t help her on August 10, 2017.

Since the early 2000s, as staffing positions for journalists across the board are being cut, the numbers of freelancers have been rising dramatically. The most important issue for them, apart from income instability, is safety and security. Kim was in contact with one of her editors in New York before embarking on her ride on the submarine, but no organization was formally entrusted with overseeing her safety that day.

My heart grieves for a woman I barely knew, a woman I had the privilege of sharing a meal with. I read every single tribute posted to her memory on the website:

www.rememberingkimwall.com

I would like to draw your attention to the grant that her family is setting up to support female journalists wishing to cover a subculture. Please consider engaging with this initiative. Considering what was done to her body, to say: “Remember Kim” takes on an acute meaning. Indeed, may we never stop re-membering her. In our memory may she live on whole and full of life: a beloved daughter, sister, friend and courageous global reporter.

​Read the New York Times story: HERE
Picture
​(PHOTO: With thanks to John Rizzo)
Kim Wall (center), First Place Awardee in the 2013 FPA Scholarship Awards, at the May 9, 2013 Awards Dinner in New York City, surrounded by the other Awardees. From left: Joanna Nurmis (ex Margueritte-Giecewicz) – author of this tribute, Silvia Higuera, Anders Melin, and Jamie Lee.


FOREIGN PRESS ASSOCIATION NEW YORK
864 Lexington Avenue, 2nd floor New York, NY, US 10065
CaLL: +1 (212) 729-0127​
eMAIL: [email protected]

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  • Home
  • About Us
    • History >
      • It All Began … (1918-1967)
      • It Continues … (1967-1993)
      • The Forgotten Hostage
      • On the 75th Anniversay
      • FPA Scholarship Fund Created
      • Our 90th Anniversary
    • Association Elected Board & Executive Committee >
      • Ian Williams Bio
      • Kristen Saloomey Bio
      • Camilla Hellman, MBE Bio
      • Sarab Zavaleta Bio
      • Simon Erskine Locke Bio
      • Anthony Morenzi Bio
      • J. Tuyet Nguyen BIO
      • Emilie Pons Bio
      • Cindy Fields Bio
      • DAVID A. ANDELMAN
      • Ulrike Howe Bio
    • Presidents Emeritus
    • Bylaws
  • FPA MEMBERSHIP
    • CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP
    • Benefits of Membership
    • Code of Ethics and Conduct
  • FOREIGN PRESS Foundation
    • About Us
    • The Award
    • Donate
    • Foundation Board of Governors
    • Corporate Memberships
    • The Fellowship Award >
      • Submission Guidelines
      • Ways to Support
      • Past Scholarships
    • In memory of KIM WALL (1987-2017)
  • News
    • FPA News
    • News from Our Members
    • FPA Events
  • BRIEFINGS
    • Throne of Spies with Craig Unger
    • Diplomacy Can Work By Putting Problems on the Backburner: China, Taiwan and the Rest of the World
    • Lavrov Trumps Rubio with Carne Ross
    • Doomsday for UNRWA and International Order?
    • Georgia's Fight for Independence from Moscow with Tinatin Japaridze
    • ICC Netanyahu's Arrest Warrant - The Beginning or End for International Justice? With Reed Brody
    • Election Interference and Foreign Media
    • Foreign Policy Matters! An FPA Press Briefing with John Bolton
    • Harris Vs Trump: Using Language to Unify and Divide:
    • The Mysteries of the Political Shifts in Europe
    • The Foreign Press & The Trump Trial: Takeaways from the Frontline
    • Can the UN Be Rescued from Irrelevance? Lessons from Kofi Annan
    • The Caucasus Emulates the Balkans?
    • Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
    • Haiti's Kids Face Famine
    • Putin Won: What Does This Mean for Russia's Neighbors?
  • WAYS TO SUPPORT
  • Contact