Eight years after her death Marie Colvin’s legacy lives on

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February 22 marks the eighth anniversary of our colleague Marie Colvin’s death. She was murdered in Syria while she was reporting from Baba Amr under regime attacks in 2012. We continue to feel her loss, and write this note to pay our tribute to an intrepid, compassionate and inspirational journalist. 

Marie was killed alongside photographer Remi Ochlik, who had been documenting the plight of Syrian civilians living in the besieged area. The attack brought an end to her three-decade career as a warzone reporter. 

“These are not just numbers. I want to tell the stories of each person,” Marie once said, and that is precisely what she did till the very end.  

At the time of her death, Marie was wading through intensely dangerous waters so that she could show the world what the war was doing to the Syrians living through it. Her reporting contracted the Assad regime, which insisted that Baba Amr was infested with only terrorists and had no civilians. 

Marie and Remi were not the only people present at the time of the attack. Photographer Paul Conroy, who survived the attack, said last year that he believed the attack was deliberate. “By the nature of the artillery bombardment, the ‘bracketing’ pattern was obvious,” he said. 

Despite evidence to the contrary, Assad has downplayed the death, blaming Marie for her own demise. In a 2016 interview, he insisted that she had not been targeted. 

“Because she came illegally she is responsible for everything that befell her,” he said. “She went with the terrorists, we didn’t send her. Nobody knows if she was killed by a missile… it’s just an allegation,” he added. 

While the response is unsurprising, we note with great anger that it glosses over the treatment of journalists in Syria. Many more journalists have died between the time Marie was killed and now while trying to bring authentic stories out of the country. 

It took seven years, but there has been some justice for Marie. Last February, a US District Court in Washington ruled that Marie had been killed because of her journalistic work. 

“She was specifically targeted because of her profession, for the purpose of silencing those reporting on the growing opposition movement in the country,” wrote Judge Amy Berman Jackson. The judgement ordered Syria to pay $300 million in punitive damages. While her family was able to get some justice, her heart also goes out to the many other journalists whose families will never be able to do the same. 

On the eight anniversary of her death, she is remembered by many. 

Marie left a deep mark on the industry, opening doors for other women journalists. Her fellow journalists developed the Marie Colvin Circle to keep her legacy alive. She wasn’t just a powerhouse reporter, but helped level the playing field for other women. 

We will continually remember her. 

May she forever rest in power.