Among 62 journalists who died in line of duty
Tom Borrelli of Buffalo News memorialized
WASHINGTON—Some 62 journalists worldwide died in the line of duty in 2008, including Tom Borrelli of The Buffalo News.
And thanks to the Newseum, the capital’s massive tribute to the journalism profession, they will not be forgotten.
The names of Borrelli and dozens of his colleagues were added Monday to the Newseum Journalists Memorial as it was rededicated.
Many of the late journalists died in war zones, or in retribution for their coverage, but some, like Borrelli, died in accidents while covering stories.
Those journalists all have one thing in common, said Alberto Ibarguen, chairman of the Newseum.
“Their communities and we are all poorer because of the work these storytellers have left undone,” he said.
The Newseum also honored 15 journalists who died in earlier years, bringing the number of names on the massive frosted-glass wall that honors such journalists to 1,913.
The memorial also includes a separate mosaic, about 10 feet square, that includes a picture of every journalist who has died doing his or her job in the past 171 years.
And at the bottom of that wall there’s a series of larger pictures and written summaries about the wall’s latest additions.
Karen Borrelli, widow of The News sportswriter, stared wistfully at his picture and recalled a man who covered the Buffalo Bandits lacrosse team with distinction and whose wit and spirit made The News sports department come alive.
“There he is,” she said. “He’s my man.”
She met Borrelli when he hired her to work for him in the sports department at a paper in Bluefield, W. Va., in the 1980s. Their first date consisted of a minor league baseball game and dinner at McDonald’s.
“We made $147 [a week], so that was a pretty good date,” she said.
The couple married in 1990, and for years afterward, “we did everything together,” Karen Borrelli said.
“He loved his job, he loved sports,” she said. “And I don’t know if you can tell by looking at his picture, but he was a great guy.”
Left unsaid was the horror of Borrelli’s death.
Assigned to cover a high school football game at All High Stadium, Borrelli, 51, hit his head on a steel girder while climbing the steep set of metal stairs leading to the press box. He then fell down the stairs, landing on his head. He died of his injuries two weeks later, Nov. 20.
State labor investigators later cited the Buffalo Public Schools for the hazardous condition of the stairs, which resembled a ship’s ladder.
In addition, the U. S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has said it will fine The News $31,500 for knowingly sending Borrelli to a dangerous work location. Lawrence Bayerl, director of human resources and legal counsel for The News, said the paper is exploring its options for appealing the fine.
Other American journalists who were honored Monday included David Garrett, a television cameraman who died in a helicopter crash while covering a story, and Misty Ann Spurgeon, a photographer for the Northwest Signal in Napoleon, Ohio, who died while driving to cover a football game.
Overseas honorees included 11 journalists who died covering violence in Iraq, five who were killed in retaliation for their coverage of drugs and crime in Mexico, and four journalists who were killed in similar circumstances in Thailand.
“These 77 individuals were brought together in a fellowship that none of them would have chosen, a fellowship created by their commitment, their courage and, ultimately, their sacrifice,” said Chris Wells, senior vice president of the Freedom Forum, which runs the Newseum.
For the late Borrelli, the son of longtime Buffalo News political reporter George Borrelli, the ceremony marked an important honor, Karen Borrelli said.
“I hate more than anything that it had to come to this, but it did come to this,” she said. “And the honor is just tremendous. He would say he didn’t deserve it, but he did.”
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