1973–2014
Freelance Correspondent | Northwestern Syria | August 19, 2014 | Age 41
His execution by ISIS, broadcast globally, transformed how journalists approach conflict reporting, catalyzed international action against terrorist propaganda, and inspired moral courage in journalism.
The Journalist
James Foley’s love of learning naturally correlated to a love of teaching—they were mirror impulses that defined his life. The son of a nurse and a doctor, he grew up in New Hampshire asking questions and listening to understand others.
At Marquette University, he studied history and Spanish. After graduating, Foley moved to Phoenix and taught inner-city children through Teach for America at Lowell Elementary School, coaching basketball while teaching reading and writing to middle schoolers. Years later, while pursuing his graduate degrees at UMass Amherst in creative writing and later at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, he continued teaching—working with single mothers in Massachusetts and young felons at Cook County Jail, Chicago to obtain their American high school equivalency certificate.
Teacher, writer, photographer, journalist—each role served the same fundamental drive: to understand human stories and help others understand them. Journalism, when he found it at 35, combined his desire to tell peoples’ stories with promoting fundamental human rights.
The Work
Foley began with conflict reporting through the growing practice of embedded journalism—a post-9/11 innovation through which reporters traveled directly with military or rebel units rather than observing from afar. His first major assignment took him to Iraq with the Indiana National Guard troops.
While established correspondents filed from the Green Zone, Foley rode in humvees through Anbar Province, documenting how American soldiers and Iraqi civilians navigated the unpredictability of occupation. Foley quickly became part of a new generation of freelancers willing to trade comfort and safety for proximity, knowing that the truest stories emerged from the front lines.
EMBEDDED JOURNALISM
Embedded journalism became prominent during the Iraq War in 2003, when more than 700 journalists were embedded with U.S. and U.K. troops to provide the public with a closer view of the wars their countries were fighting abroad. These journalists trained alongside military personnel and signed contracts to abide by certain operational security rules. Originally seen as a win-win—with media getting unprecedented access to action and military seeing it as good public relations—the practice has sometimes proven controversial, raising questions about objectivity and the line between reporting and participation.
In early 2011, as dictatorships across the Arab world faced unprecedented protests, Foley left the military embed and headed to Libya as a solo freelance war correspondent. Muammar Gaddafi, who had ruled through fear for 42 years, was suddenly fighting for survival against rebels inspired by successful uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. The story was irresistible: a people’s revolution against one of the world’s most eccentric tyrants.
THE ARAB SPRING
The Arab Spring began in December 2010 when a Tunisian street vendor set himself on fire in protest, sparking protests that toppled multiple authoritarian regimes across the Middle East and North Africa. Libya’s uprising began in February 2011, inspired by successful revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, quickly escalating from protests to civil war. Syria followed in March, as protests against Bashar al-Assad’s regime met violent crackdowns.
On April 5, 2011, Foley was traveling with fellow independent journalists toward the front line outside Brega when pro-Gaddafi troops ambushed them. Anton Hammerl, a South African photographer, was killed in the initial barrage while Foley and two other journalists were captured.
For 44 days, Foley was held in Tripoli’s notorious Abu Salim prison alongside rebels who had posted critical messages about the regime. convinced the Gaddafis to intervene, Foley appeared on PBS NewsHour with Judy Woodruff and began a “gratitude” tour to thank all who assisted in his release.
At Marquette University on December 7, 2011, he said: “For some reason I have physical courage but that is nothing compared to moral courage. If I don’t have the moral courage to challenge authority, to challenge the system, to write about things that may have reprisals on my career. If I don’t have that moral courage, we don’t have journalism”
Not five months later, he was back in Libya with Human Rights Watch, covering the fall of the regime that had tried to break him. He witnessed Gaddafi’s capture and the end of his rule—a vindication of the revolution he’d risked everything to document.
The Final Story
Syria was different from Libya. By 2012, what had begun as another Arab Spring uprising had metastasized into something darker—a civil war that would spawn ISIS and redraw the map of global terrorism. Foley arrived to find a conflict without clear sides, where allies became enemies and journalists were no longer observers but targets.
He spent months building sources, learning Arabic, documenting how ordinary Syrians survived extraordinary violence. His reporting focused on hospitals bombed by government forces, breadlines in besieged neighborhoods, and children playing in the rubble of their schools.
On Thanksgiving Day 2012, near Taftanaz in northwestern Syria, jihadist fighters stopped Foley’s vehicle at a checkpoint. This time, there would be no negotiated release. For nearly two years, he was traded to ISIS, moved between makeshift prisons, starved, subjected to mock executions, and forced to watch other hostages break under torture.
His final letter home, memorized and delivered orally by a freed fellow prisoner to whom Foley had recited it, revealed a man who had crossed his own 44-day threshold many times over. The optimism of his Libya experience had given way to acceptance. He thanked each family member individually, asked them not to worry, and signed off with characteristic selflessness: “I know you are thinking of me and praying for me. And I am so thankful. I feel you all especially when I pray.”
On August 19, 2014, ISIS released a video showing Foley’s execution, making him the first American citizen killed by the terrorist group. The footage, intended as propaganda, instead galvanized international opposition to ISIS and forever changed how news organizations approach journalist safety in conflict zones.
Even in captivity, Foley remained a teacher. Fellow hostages later described how he organized activities to maintain morale: leading group discussions, sharing stories, creating games to pass time. French journalist Nicolas Hénin, held alongside Foley, recalled: “He was the moral leader of the group. He never complained. He encouraged us to stick together.”
The Legacy
Foley’s death marked a turning point in global efforts against ISIS and changed how news organizations approach dangerous assignments.
The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, established by his family, advocates for the safe return of Americans held captive abroad and provides safety education for aspiring and freelance journalists.
A free curriculum of journalism safety education was developed and shared with schools of journalism throughtout and US and Lebanon, educating aspiring journalists in risk assessment, digital security, and trauma management. The Foley graduate school curriculum was compiled by Northwestern Professor Ellen Shearer and undergraduate Foley safety modules by his dear friend, Dr. Thomas Durkin of Marquette University.
His case led to significant policy changes: the U.S. government reformed its hostage recovery protocols, creating new positions dedicated to coordinating efforts for American captives. News organizations implemented more rigorous security training and hostile environment courses became standard for conflict reporters.
The Foley Foundation annually holds a James W. Foley Freedom Run to raise awareness of hostage taking and the need for press freedom and the James W. Foley Freedom Awards to honor journalists who show moral and physical courage in their work.
Since the publication of American Mother by Colum McCann and Diane Foley, both the book and film have continued to inspire moral courage in high schools, universities and the general public domestically and internationally.
Content included in this publication was generously provided by Freedom Forum which hosted the Journalists Memorial for 18 years to commemorate journalists who died reporting the news.
Freedom Forum is a partner with the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation.