James Foley (journalist)

James Foley
Foley at San Diego State University in 2012
Born(1973-10-18)October 18, 1973
Evanston, Illinois, U.S.
Diedc. August 19, 2014(2014-08-19) (aged 40)
Raqqa, Raqqa Governorate, Syria
Cause of deathBeheading by ISIS
Alma materMarquette University (BA)
University of Massachusetts Amherst (MFA)
Northwestern University (MS)
OccupationJournalist
Websitejamesfoleyfoundation.org

James Wright Foley (October 18, 1973 – c. August 19, 2014) was an American journalist and video reporter. While working as a freelance war correspondent during the Syrian Civil War, he was abducted on November 22, 2012, in northwestern Syria. He was murdered by decapitation in August 2014 purportedly as a response to American airstrikes in Iraq, thus becoming the first American citizen executed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).[1]

Before becoming a journalist, Foley was an instructor for Teach For America.[2][3] By spring 2008, in Iraq, he became an embedded journalist with an Indiana National Guard unit,[4] writing a story for In These Times, about condolence payments paid to Iraqis.[5] In 2008, he became an embedded journalist with USAID-funded development projects in Iraq, and in 2011 he wrote for the military newspaper Stars and Stripes in Afghanistan, and GlobalPost in Libya. There, he was captured by Gaddafi loyalist forces and held for 44 days. The next year, Foley was captured in Syria while he was working for Agence France-Presse and GlobalPost.

  1. ^ Alyssa Newcomb (August 20, 2014). "Another American hostage threatened with death". CBS News. World News. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  2. ^ "ISIS murdered her son. But she wasn't going to let that be his only legacy". Washington Post. May 8, 2018. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  3. ^ "Mother of James Foley, American journalist killed by ISIS, speaks out". FOX 5 DC. May 3, 2016. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  4. ^ Gantz, Jeremy (September 11, 2014). "The James Foley I Knew". In These Times. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
  5. ^ Foley, James (June 25, 2008). "The Price of One Iraqi Life". In These Times. Retrieved September 15, 2023.