The world has paid tribute to the late journalist Mariam Abu Daqa, whose name now joins the ranks of those who gave their lives in defence of truth. Killed in an Israeli strike that targeted a hospital in southern Gaza last August, Mariam’s courage continues to echo far beyond the shattered walls where she last reported. Her legacy has now been immortalised through the Global Press Freedom Hero Award, a recognition of extraordinary bravery in a world that too often silences those who dare to speak.

Mariam’s work was not defined by grand speeches or institutions, but by a relentless commitment to show the human cost of Gaza’s suffering. Through her camera and words, she documented families searching for loved ones, doctors battling exhaustion, and children enduring the unimaginable. She stood where the danger was greatest, not to chase glory, but to bear witness, to ensure the world could never say, “We did not know.” Her death, like that of so many journalists in Gaza, underscores a dark reality: that truth itself has become a target in this genocidal war.

Her colleagues and editors describe her as a journalist of integrity and compassion, a woman who believed that telling the truth was both a duty and an act of defiance. The award in her name is more than a posthumous honour; it is a call to protect those who risk everything to document injustice. As the world gathers in Vienna to celebrate press freedom, Mariam’s story reminds us that courage is not born in safety, it is forged in the ruins, carried by those who refuse to be silenced.