Over the course of the past several weeks, two American  journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff, have been brutally and publicly murdered by the Islamic State of Syria, also known as ISIS. Journalists have a history of travelling where the stories are, regardless of explicit dangers to themselves. Many of our staff are planning for careers in journalism, and their work may take them to places all over the world, including conflict zones like this one. Without these brave individuals to tell the stories of places different, our world becomes smaller, less illuminated by perspective. ISIS not only killed two journalists, but also two important stories about one of the most volatile conflicts on the globe.

Journalists should be able to travel between countries without fear, able to give the world the news it needs to hear. Events like this remind us that the news is more important than ever. Exposing the truth about what is happening across the world is how we learn, grow and improve our understandings. When news providers are prohibited or threatened from doing so, we are all at risk.