Fallen Journalists Memorial Approved for D.C.’s National Mall

The Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) on Thursday approved a site at the National Mall to construct a monument to fallen journalists, the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation said in a Monday press release.

“I want to express my appreciation to the CFA for their diligent review of our site selection study and endorsement of such a preeminent and historically significant site,” Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation President Barbara Cochran stated. “The location of this memorial on the National Mall in direct line of sight of the U.S. Capitol will underscore the significance and value our nation places on press freedom and those who died in service to that cause.”

The memorial site will be located on a triangular patch bordered by Independence Avenue, Maryland Avenue, and 3rd SW in Washington, D.C. Construction for the monument will be managed in collaboration with Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic Paul Goldberger.

“I am excited,” Goldberger stated, “to begin the process of finding a design team that can convey the urgent importance of the principle of freedom of the press that the First Amendment represents, and that will at the same time honor those who have given their lives for this principle in the course of their work as journalists.”

The monument is expected to be completed by the end of 2028 and will be funded entirely by private donations. A public comment period, sponsored by the National Park Service for the project, will extend to May 5.