Skip to footer

Family, friends: Sotloff dedicated his life to portraying suffering in war zones

Family spokesman Barak Barfi told reporters gathered outside the family's suburban Miami home Wednesday that Sotloff 'tried to find good concealed in a world of darkness,' and to give voice to the weak and suffering in the Arab world.

|
John Raoux/AP
Students and supporters take part in a candle light vigil at the University of Central Florida, Wednesday, in Orlando, Fla., to honor Steven Sotloff, the second American journalist to be beheaded by the Islamic State group in two weeks. Sotloff attended University of Central Florida between 2002 and 2004.
  • By Associated Press

The family of a journalist slain by Islamic State militants says Steven Sotloff dedicated his life to portraying the suffering of people in war zones, but was "no hero."

Family spokesman Barak Barfi told reporters gathered outside the family's suburban Miami home Wednesday that Sotloff "tried to find good concealed in a world of darkness," and to give voice to the weak and suffering in the Arab world.

A militant video released Tuesday showed the beheading of Sotloff, who was kidnapped in Syria last year.

Barfi said Sotloff was "no war junkie," but was drawn to the stories of the turbulent Middle East.

Barfi said Sotloff's family was grieving, but have pledged to "not allow our enemies to hold us hostage with the sole weapon they possess - fear."

The mother of slain U.S. journalist James Foley says she hopes the killing of a second American in Syria will galvanize world leaders to find peaceful solutions to global conflicts.

Diane Foley, of Rochester, New Hampshire, told New England Cable News on Wednesday that she had hoped Steven Sotloff and other captives held by the Islamic State group in Syria would be spared.

Diane Foley said she sends her deepest condolences to the Sotloff family and says "we are just heartbroken for them."

She says she hopes the worldwide outrage over the killings is "funneled into goodness and peace."

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Family, friends: Sotloff dedicated his life to portraying suffering in war zones
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2014/0904/Family-friends-Sotloff-dedicated-his-life-to-portraying-suffering-in-war-zones
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe