Washington

Design of D.C. Memorial for Slain Journalists Is Unveiled

Published

1 year ago

September 17, 2024

The Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation has unveiled its design on Monday for a National Mall monument honoring journalists killed in their line of duty, representing the first memorial for slain journalists on federal grounds.

The Washington D.C. monument, projected to open in 2028, is made up of various cast glass blocks that form a path to the memorial’s center, which culminates in a cylindrical space that includes the text of the First Amendment. The purpose, architect John Ronan said, was to mimic both the transparency journalism provides and the disparate parts that make up a complete story.

“It’s a journey of discovery that unfolds slowly, space by space, like a journalist’s story unfolds line by line,” Ronan told The Daily Beast. “The idea is to cast the visitor in the role of an investigative journalist, pursuing truth wherever it leads.”

Artist renderings of the Fallen Journalist Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation/John Ronan Architects

The design was completed by Ronan’s Chicago-based firm, which was selected earlier this year after a yearlong process led by Pulitzer-Prize winning architecture critic Paul Goldberger. The design will be presented to the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts on Thursday for review, and the National Capital Planning Commission will review it next month.

The love for journalism is reflected through each element of the memorial’s open-air design. Ronan incorporated a classroom space for planned programming on the importance of journalism, and there will be a space reserved for broadcast journalists to do their live shots. Many of the glass slabs will also include quotes related to journalism or said by journalists themselves.

Even the memorial’s location—situated on one-third of an acre between Independence and Maryland avenues and Third Street SW with a direct view of the U.S. Capitol dome—is meant to reflect how journalism is interwoven into U.S. history.

Artist renderings of the Fallen Journalist Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The road to getting the memorial going was almost miraculous amid the hyperpartisanship—and sunken trust in the media—begetting the U.S. The Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation was formed in June 2019 by former U.S. representative and ex-Tribune Broadcasting Company CEO David Dreier, a Republican, to celebrate the journalists who were killed at the Capital Gazette newsroom in Maryland in 2018.

The foundation was memorialized by Congress in 2020 after it passed a bill letting the group build a memorial on federal lands—though it cannot receive federal funds. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law in December 2020.

It’s that bipartisan spirit, foundation president Barbara Cochran said, that emphasizes the memorial’s importance and its place on federal land.

“These stories, I think, underscore both the important job that journalists are doing and the risks that they face,” Cochran said. “You know, it’s not just in war zones, or covering corruption, covering autocrats and authoritarian regimes, and even just covering their community news in a place like Annapolis, Maryland, where journalists can encounter danger. So I think that those stories really resonate with people.”

Still, even those noble ideas can still risk inducing partisan attacks. GOP politicians have assailed U.S. journalists over their coverage of the 2024 presidential election, with lawmakers like Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene resorting to dubious documents to attack ABC over their debate.

One of their safeguards, Cochran said, is their advisory board. The group is composed of reporters and editors from a wide swath of publications, including everyone from former New York Times and Washington Post executive editors Dean Baquet and Marty Baron to Fox News anchor Bret Baier to Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy.

“When I asked people to be on the board of advisors, it was an immediate yes in almost all instances,” Cochran said.”I think journalists especially are acutely aware of the dangers and the threats, and they recognized immediately how important it is to have this.”

It’s why such fears of partisan attacks don’t worry Cochran as much.

“There will always be criticism of individual journalists, individual news organizations,” Cochran said, but she cited Thomas Jefferson’s love for newspapers as an example of press rising above partisanship.

“He preferred a society with free journalism, with free press,” she said. “And I think officials really do feel that.”

(Note: The Daily Beast’s Chief Content Officer Joanna Coles is on the foundation’s board of advisers.)

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Washington

HIGHLIGHT | Lawrence Dots a Pass to Washington for a 6-Yard TD

Published

31 minutes ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

HIGHLIGHT | Lawrence Dots a Pass to Washington for a 6-Yard TD

DE Dawuane Smoot, LB Foyesade Oluokun, TE Brenton Strange, S Eric Murray, and S Antonio Johnson speak with the media after practice on Thursday ahead of the Wild Card Matchup vs. Bills.

0:00 – 2:28 – DE Dawuane Smoot

2:29 – 6:24 – LB Foyesade Oluokun

6:25 – 9:25 – TE Brenton Strange

9:26 – 11:32 – S Eric Murray

11:33 – 13:46 – S Antonio Johnson

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Washington

Iran warns Washington it will retaliate against any attack

Published

13 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Iran warns Washington it will retaliate against any attack

DUBAI, Jan 11 (Reuters) – Iran warned President Donald Trump on Sunday that any U.S. attack would lead to Tehran striking back against Israel and regional U.S. military bases as “legitimate targets”, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf told parliament.

Israel is on high alert for the possibility of a U.S. intervention to support a nationwide protest movement in Iran, sources said.

Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by William Mallard

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

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Washington

Washington National Opera cuts ties with the Kennedy Center after longstanding partnership | CNN Politics

Published

2 days ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Washington National Opera cuts ties with the Kennedy Center after longstanding partnership | CNN Politics

The Washington National Opera on Friday announced it is parting ways with the Kennedy Center after more than a decade with the arts institution.

“Today, the Washington National Opera announced its decision to seek an amicable early termination of its affiliation agreement with the Kennedy Center and resume operations as a fully independent nonprofit entity,” the opera said in a statement.

The decoupling marks another high-profile withdrawal since President Donald Trump and his newly installed board of trustees instituted broad thematic and cosmetic changes to the building, including renaming the facility “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”

The opera said it plans to “reduce its spring season and relocate performances to new venues.”

A source familiar with the dynamic told CNN the decision to part ways was made by the opera’s board and its leadership, and that the decision was not mutual.

A spokesperson for the Kennedy Center said in a statement, “After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to part ways with the WNO due to a financially challenging relationship. We believe this represents the best path forward for both organizations and enables us to make responsible choices that support the financial stability and long-term future of the Trump Kennedy Center.”

Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell, who was appointed by Trump’s hand-picked board, said on X, “Having an exclusive relationship has been extremely expensive and limiting in choice and variety.”

Grenell added, “Having an exclusive Opera was just not financially smart. And our patrons clearly wanted a refresh.”

Since taking the reins at the center, Grenell has cut existing staff, hired political allies and mandated a “break-even policy” for every performance.

The opera said the new policy was a factor in its decision to leave the center.

“The Center’s new business model requires productions to be fully funded in advance—a requirement incompatible with opera operations,” the opera said.

Francesca Zambello, the opera’s artistic director, said she is “deeply saddened to leave The Kennedy Center.”

“In the coming years, as we explore new venues and new ways of performing, WNO remains committed to its mission and artistic vision,” she said.

The New York Times first reported the opera’s departure.

Founded in 1956 as the “Opera Society of Washington,” the group has performed across the district, taking permanent residency in the Kennedy Center in 2011.

The performing arts center has been hit with a string of abrupt cancellations from artists in recent weeks including the jazz group The Cookers and New York City-based dance company Doug Varone and Dancers who canceled their performances after Trump’s name was added to the center – a living memorial for assassinated President John F. Kennedy.

The American College Theater Festival voted to suspend its relationship with the Kennedy Center, calling the affiliation “no longer viable” and citing concerns over a misalignment of the group’s values.

American banjo player Béla Fleck withdrew his upcoming performance with the National Symphony Orchestra, saying that performing at the center has become “charged and political.”

The Brentano String Quartet, who canceled their February 1 performance at the Kennedy Center, said they will “regretfully forego performing there.”

CNN has reached out to the Kennedy Center on the additional cancellations.

The opera said, “The Board and management of the company wish the Center well in its own future endeavors.”

CNN’s Betsy Klein and Nicky Robertson contributed to this report.

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