Khashoggi, other journalists honored at Times Square

NEW YORK

Injecting a somber note into the festivities, the New York City’s Times Square Alliance, the business association that organizes the famous New Year’s Eve party, paid a special tribute to freedom of the press, after a year in which journalists came under attack around the world.

Karen Attiah, who edited the Washington Post columns of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist who was killed inside a Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey, was among the invitees.

Mr. Holt of NBC, Alisyn Camerota of CNN, Vladimir Duthiers of CBS, Jon Scott of Fox News, editors from The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times were among the participants.

The event also honored five employees of The Capital, a newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland, who were shot dead in June last year.

A minute before midnight, an invited group of journalists from ABC News, NBC News, the Washington Post, Reuters and other outlets joined Mayor Bill de Blasio in pushing the button that initiates the drop of the New Year’s Eve ball to mark the start of 2019.

This month also marked the first anniversary of the imprisonment in Myanmar of Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo for investigating how the country’s security forces killed members of its Muslim Rohingya minority.  

For the multitudes who gathered in the famed midtown Manhattan crossroads, the thrilling moment was reward for enduring hours of standing in a steady downpour during the waning hours of 2018.

Helping to keep spirits high was a slate of performers including Christina Aguilera, New Kids on the Block and Sting who entertained the resilient crowd. Many donned plastic rain ponchos and sported colorful, oversized top hats handed out by organizers.