New York, April 4, 2003—Michael Kelly, editor-at-large of the Atlantic Monthly and a columnist with the Washington Post, was killed today while traveling with the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq, according to a statement from the Washington Post.
“We mourn the loss of our colleague Michael Kelly,” said CPJ acting director Joel Simon. “Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with his family, loved ones, and colleagues.”
Kelly, who had also served as the editor of the New Republic and the National Journal, is the first American journalist killed while covering the war.
Three other journalists have been killed—Kaveh Golestan, an Iranian free-lance cameraman working for the BBC; ITV news correspondent Terry Lloyd; and Paul Moran, a free-lance cameraman for Australia’s ABC News. Last week, a fourth journalist was found dead in northern Iraq after apparently falling off a hotel roof.
