WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — National Press Club President Mark Schoeff Jr. released the following statement today:
“Today we mark 14 years since Austin Tice — a Georgetown University alumnus, award-winning freelance journalist, and U.S. Marine Corps veteran — was detained at a checkpoint near Damascus, Syria, on August 14, 2012. He remains today the longest detained American journalist overseas.
Austin is not forgotten. We urge President Trump to make freeing Austin a top priority. The Trump administration’s efforts to release American hostages held abroad will not be complete until Austin is safely returned to his family.
Since Austin’s detention, Democratic and Republican administrations have worked hard to secure the release of American journalists unjustly detained. In the past few years alone, Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmacheva, Shelly Kittleson, and others have come home thanks to the sustained efforts of press freedom advocates including the National Press Club, families, passionate citizens, and U.S. State Department officials.
Securing the safe release of American journalists is bipartisan and demonstrates to American journalists that they have the backing of their country when they are targeted, kidnapped, or imprisoned for doing their jobs.
And yet, Austin is still missing. His family and friends have lived in uncertainty each day of the past 14 years and deserve to know that the U.S. government remains dedicated to his freedom. It must do everything in its power to bring him home.”
The National Press Club has advocated for Tice’s release since the earliest days of his captivity and honored him with its highest press freedom award — the John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award — in 2015.
About The National Press Club
Founded in 1908, the National Press Club is the world’s leading professional organization for journalists and a leading voice for press freedom in the U.S. and worldwide.
Contact: Dan Griffin, Communications Director of the National Press Club, media@press.org
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SOURCE National Press Club
