All have their story here

From 10pm tonight a shaft of light will light up the sky above BBC Broadcasting House in London. Every evening at the same time, the ten metre high glass and steel structure will be turned on as a memorial to journalists who have died doing their job. Relatives of some reporters who were killed will join the UN Secretary General for the dedication ceremony today.

“These men and women are the unsung heroes of democracy, for without a free press there can be no freedom. This shaft of light in the capital of international journalism is a visual reminder of their sacrifice,” said Rodney Pinder, director of the International News Safety Institute link

The sculpture is called Breathing and is the creation of Spanish artist Jaume Plensa. Ex-war correspondent and poet, James Fenton was also commissioned to write a poem,

We spoke, we chose to speak of war and strife – a task a fine ambition sought – and some might say, who shared our work, our life: that praise was dearly bought.
Drivers, interpreters, these were our friends. These we loved. These we were trusted by. The shocked hand wipes the blood across the lens. The lens looks to the sky.
Most died by mischance. Some seemed honour-bound to take the lonely, peerless track conceiving danger as a testing ground to which they must go back
till the tongue fell silent and they crossed beyond the realm of time and fear. Death waved them through the checkpoint. They were lost. All have their story here. link

Meanwhile, to mark the opening of the memorial, Jeremy Bowen considers the risks war reporters take in their line of work and remembers those he knew well and who died,

Every journalist who has made a habit of going to wars has a list of dead friends and colleagues, people who did the same stories in the same places until they went to work one day and were killed. link