McLean, VA (May 5, 2011) — UNITY Journalists of Color is calling on the government of Syria to release Al Jazeera reporter Dorothy Parvaz and allow her to continue her important work in the country.

Parvaz, a former reporter for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and a 2009 Nieman Fellow at Harvard, was apparently detained shortly after arriving in Damascus on Friday to cover anti-government protests in the country. Al Jazeera has been told by Syrian officials that they’re holding Parvaz. She is a citizen of the United States, Canada and Iran. She joined Al Jazeera in 2010.

UNITY joins the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University and other media organizations in urging President Bashar al-Assad to immediately free Ms. Parvaz, and to cease efforts to hinder the work of the international media.

UNITY believes that a free press is one of the pillars of a democracy and it is our hope that Syria will adhere to the principles that guarantee the free flow of information and ideas.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 6, 2010

Media Contact:

Onica N. Makwakwa, Executive Director

UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc.

Tel: (703) 854-3585

executive@unityjournalists.org

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About UNITY: Journalists of Color
UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. is a strategic alliance advocating news coverage about people of color, and aggressively challenging its organizations at all levels to reflect the nation’s diversity. UNITY is comprised of four national associations: Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the Native American Journalists Association together with an outreach to more than 8,000 journalists of color, In addition to planning the largest regular gathering of journalists in the nation, UNITY supports research and advocacy initiatives that promote its mission. For more information on UNITY, visit www.unityjournalists.org, email info@unityjournalists.org or call (703) 854-3585.