Press freedom group fights to raise awareness of the plight of war reporter Austin Tice who was detained by an unknown group in August 2012

It is very doubtful that you have ever heard of Austin Tice. Yet he is a freelance journalist who has been held captive in Syria since August 2012.

Too little has been reported about a man who is on the verge of spending his fifth Christmas in the hands of unknown captors in an unknown location in a war-torn country.

Tice was working for the US newspaper publisher, McClatchy, when he was abducted. A month later, a 47-second film of him was released on to YouTube. Blindfolded and forced to read a message in Arabic, he was roughly handled. (Warning: it is disturbing to watch. His father rightly called it brutal).

There has been no contact since from Tice or his captors. However, two months ago, Reporters San Frontieres (RSF) cited “diverse credible sources” who believe him to be alive and who further say he is not being held by Isis.

His situation remains the same, according to a briefing I received a week ago as a member of RSF’s new UK advisory board.

Aside from the McClatchy chain of newspapers, Tice’s work has been published by the Washington Post, the Associated Press, CBS and the BBC. His reporting has earned him several awards.

In 2012, he won both the George Polk award for war reporting and the McClatchy president’s award. Three years later, while a captive, he was given the US national press club John Aubuchon press freedom award.

It was on 14 August 2012, three days after his 31st birthday, that Tice was abducted while preparing to travel from Daraya, near Damascus, to Beirut in neighbouring Lebanon.

In October 2012, the Guardian reported that the US state department believed Tice was in the custody of the Syrian government led by Bashar al-Assad. By that time RSF had begun assisting and advising his family in order to raise awareness of their son’s situation.

In February 2015, RSF launched its #freeaustintice campaign. The following month, the Guardian reported that the US and Syria had entered into “rare direct talks” about Tice. But nothing came of the initiative.

Last month, on the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, RSF helped to organise the unveiling of a banner on the facade of the Newseum in Washington. It showed a photo of Tice with the message, “Held captive for being a journalist since August 2012.” The banner will remain in place until his safe return.

Jeffrey Herbst, president and chief executive of the Newseum, said: “We hope this banner, prominently displayed on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of citizens and lawmakers alike, will raise awareness of his captivity and bring him one step closer to home.”



If you want to take part in the campaign to free Tice, please sign the petition, which is addressed to President Barack Obama, and take the blindfold pledge, a symbol of Austin’s kidnapping.

To participate, people can take photos of themselves blindfolded and post them on social media outlets with an explanation of why you are doing so: to raise awareness of Tice’s abduction and to call for anyone who might count to help bring pressure to bear in order to effect his release.