Their committment to the trade is astounding.
On June 28, five people were murdered at the Capital Gazette offices in Annapolis and on June 29, their colleagues published a paper that told a story of heroism, perseverance and an unparalleled commitment to their trade.
But the most gut-wrenching section of the paper was the editorial page, which was left intentionally blank, except a few sentences and the names of the five deceased employees.
Photos of the Capital Gazette’s editorial page went viral on social media. Surrounded by white space, the simple message is etched, “today we are speechless.”
Tomorrow this Capital page will return to its steady purpose of offering readers informed opinion about the world around them. But today, we are speechless. pic.twitter.com/5HzKN2IW7Q
— Capital Gazette (@capgaznews) June 29,2018
Reporters shared photos of the Gazette’s editorial page along with links to the bios of the five who were killed: Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, Rebecca Smith, John McNamara and Wendi Winters. On Thursday evening, Gazette reporter Chase Cook tweeted “I can tell you this. We’re putting out a damn paper tomorrow.”
Yes, we’re putting out a damn paper tomorrow. https://t.co/ScNvIK1A4R
— Capital Gazette (@capgaznews) June 29,2018
A sign of defiance and resiliency this morning. The staff at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis has published a morning edition of its paper. The headline: 5 Shot Dead at The Capital with pictures of the victims, their own colleagues. We are LIVE this morning in Annapolis @ABC7GMW pic.twitter.com/hwbMEKi28t
— John Gonzalez (@ABC7John) June 29,2018
In their editorial page, the paper also added “Tomorrow this Capital page will return to its steady purpose of offering readers informed opinion about the world around them.”
And the story of the Gazette reporters’ task in chronicling the news is even more astounding than the paper they eventually published on Friday. Three reporters joined together to file stories about the shooting—reporting on the massacre that had happened in their own office. Because they couldn’t go back to the office, they reported the news from the bed of a pickup truck, according to the Baltimore Sun.
The Capital Gazette’s reporters even attended the press conference where police updated the media on the status of the victims. One of the reporters even asked a question.
The Capital Gazette has a storied history. It is one of the oldest newspapers in the United States. According to the publication’s “about us” section, the paper is older than the nation that it serves, founded in 1727 as the Maryland Gazette.
After a series of rebirths, it was eventually bought by Baltimore Sun Media Group in 2014, which owns several other papers including the Baltimore Sun, The Towson Times and the Bowie-Blade News.
