David P. Gilkey (January 5, 1966 – June 5, 2016) was a
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
photojournalist for
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, for whom he covered disasters, epidemics and war.
It was originally reported that Gilkey and his native
Afghan
Afghan may refer to:
*Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia
*Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity
** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...
handler Zabihullah Tamanna were both killed during the
War in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to:
*Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC)
* Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709)
*Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...
by a rocket grenade while covering a skirmish between the
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...
and Afghan forces in the vicinity of
Marjah
Marjah (also spelled Marjeh; Pashto/ fa, ) is an agricultural town in southern Afghanistan. It has been reported to have a population between 80,000 and 125,000, but some sources argue that its population is much smaller and is spread across 80 t ...
,
Helmand Province
Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...
,
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
.
One year after their deaths, NPR clarified that a firefight with troops loyal to a Taliban leader named Mullah Ismail — not to be confused with another
Mullah Ismail of the Taliban — had occurred while the reporters were on convoy and Tamanna was killed by gunfire and Gilkey by burns with smoke inhalation.
Personal
David Gilkey was born in
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
,
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
,
and he is the son of Alyda Gilkey and Richard (Dick) Gilkey.
As a child, Gilkey wanted to be a truck driver but he took up photography because his father had a dark room and taught David how to use a camera at an early age.
He graduated from the class of 1985 from
Woodrow Wilson High School in his hometown.
Gilkey pursued his interest in photography in the mid-1980s when he went to study
photojournalism at
Oregon State
Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...
and was a photojournalist for
The Daily Barometer
''The Daily Barometer'' is an independent campus newspaper of Oregon State University, in Corvallis, Oregon. It is published weekly during the fall, winter, and spring quarters, and monthly during the summer.
Also known as The Baro, the news tea ...
, the OSU student newspaper, but he did not complete his studies.
Gilkey, who resided in Portland, Oregon, was 50 years old when he was killed in a combat zone.
Career
Following an internship with Boulder Daily Camera, in the late 1980s Gilkey was hired on as a Staff Photographer. During his time at The Camera his hunger for international work grew. He persuaded editors to allow him a leave of absence from daily work, paid his own way, and with some financial assistance from paper owner Knight Ridder Gilkey traveled to South Africa to cover the end of Apartheid as well as the Rwandan genocide and the famine in Somalia.
In 1996 Gilkey was hired by the Detroit Free Press
The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...
and worked there for the Knight Ridder media company for 11 years. During his time at the Free Press Gilkey began his coverage of the War on Terror traveling to Afghanistan and then Iraq numerous times.
In 2007, he joined National Public Radio as a staff photographer
A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs.
Duties and types of photographers
As in other ...
and video editor
A video editor is involved in video production and the post-production of film making. The video editor's responsibilities involve decisions about the selection and combining of shots into sequences, as well as the addition of accompanying so ...
. For NPR, Gilkey continuously covered wars and conflicts in countries, such as Afghanistan, Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
, Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
/ Palestine, and Gaza. Over the span of almost 20 years, Gilkey photographed events such as the ending of the apartheid regime in South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
, the earthquake in Haiti, and the Ebola incident in Liberia.
An anthology of his work titled Pictures on the radio, spearheaded by former Free Press colleague , is scheduled to be released January, 2021.
Death
David Gilkey was taking pictures and covering stories of war-related events in Afghanistan around the time of his death. Multiple attacks were happening between the Afghan military and Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...
fighters, and so Gilkey traveled to Marjah, located in southern Afghanistan, to cover the conflict. Gilkey was traveling with the Afghan military to cover fights near Marjah. A second vehicle was following behind Gilkey's, but this group was not harmed in the incident.
Context
At the time of Gilkey's death, the United States had been at war in Afghanistan for around 15 years although its involvement can be traced back to 1979 when the former Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
invaded the country and the United States armed the Afghanistan rebels, which later gave rise to the Taliban. After the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...
, the United States led by President George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
attacked Afghanistan and the Taliban leadership for harboring Al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden. The United States involvement in Afghanistan entered a new phase when President Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
began to draw down troops and Afghanistan entered talks with the enemy. During summer 2015, Taliban and Afghan forces were fighting for Kunduz
, native_name_lang = prs
, other_name =
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline = Kunduz River valley.jpg
, imagesize = 300
, image_alt =
, image_caption =
, image_ ...
, and the Taliban managed to secure control there. Gilkey and his Afghani handler were covering the war during this new phase.
Impact
Since the War in Afghanistan began, over 26 journalists were killed and Gilkey and Tamanna became the 27th and 28th journalist to be killed there, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journ ...
.
Reactions
After Gilkey and Tamanna were killed, many of their colleagues at NPR paid tribute to the pair but especially Gilkey. According to Tom Goldman, "David was engaged, and you can see the care, interest, and love of the city through his work. He was a journalist and artist, for whatever the subject. A kind person as well. Quite a mix."
Another representative from the ''Detroit Free Press'', Nancy Andrews, a director, said, "David could do work to make you weep, to make you feel. He could find the beauty in the horror."
Irina Bokova, director-general of , said, "I condemn the attack that claimed the lives of David Gilkey and Zabihullah Tamanna. The right of media workers to exercise their professional duties in safe conditions must be recognized in the interest of society as a whole."
President Barack Obama noted after Gilkey’s death, the photographer “captured a breadth of truths across the world and showed the humanity of those he photographed, even under the most difficult circumstances.” Gilkey had previously met Obama as a White House News Photographers Association's award winner.
Awards
David Gilkey received several awards for his work. He was named Michigan Photographer of the year in 2004 by the Michigan Press Photographers Association. In 2007, Gilkey received the Free Press Award, also referred to as the National Emmy Award, for his inspiring video series. This video was referred to as "Band of Brothers," which covered the deployment of marines in Iraq. He also received the 2010 George Polk Award
The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the awar ...
for his coverage of the U.S. military and its treatment of the wounded. He was presented with the Still Photographer of the Year Award in 2011. He won the Peabody Award and Edward R. Murrow Award (Corporation for Public Broadcasting) for his coverage of the Ebola epidemic.
See also
* List of journalists killed during the War in Afghanistan (2001–21)
* List of terrorist incidents in June 2016
* 2016 in radio
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilkey, David
2016 deaths
Detroit Free Press people
Edward R. Murrow Award (CPB) winners
George Polk Award recipients
Journalists from Portland, Oregon
Journalists killed while covering the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
NPR personalities
Oregon State University alumni
People killed by the Taliban
Ida B. Wells-Barnett High School alumni
Photographers from Oregon
1966 births