Voting Station

James Foley

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Commentator

The Resume

    (October 18, 1973-August 19, 2014)
    Born in Rochester, New Hampshire
    Freelance photojournalist
    Worked primarily for GlobalPost, a Boston-based news company
    Abducted while covering the civil war in Syria (November 22, 2012)
    Beheaded by the Islamic State jihadist group

Why he might be annoying:

    Earlier, he had been captured by pro-Gaddafi forces during the Libyan civil war and held for 44 days (April-May, 2011).
    Following his release, his editors at GlobalPost offered him a stateside job, but after six months he insisted on going back to covering international conflict.
    A US Special Forces operation to rescue him and other captive journalists failed (July, 2014).
    He was taped reading a statement calling for an end to US air strikes against the Islamic State.
    His execution was filmed and posted to YouTube.

Why he might not be annoying:

    Before he took up journalism, he was a teacher, and taught reading to juvenile offenders in a Cook County, Illinois, boot camp.
    He said rosary prayers helped him get through his captivity in Libya.
    As a journalist, he had a knack for getting people to open up.
    He said, 'I believe frontline journalism is important. Without firsthand experience, you can't really tell the world how bad it might be.'
    He organized a fundraiser to purchase an ambulance and supplies for the main hospital in Aleppo, Syria.
    He may have been handed over to the Islamic State by Bashar al-Assad's regime.
    His mother said, 'He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syrian people.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 22 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 20 Votes: 15.00% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 85 Votes: 49.41% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 14 Votes: 28.57% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 57 Votes: 49.12% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 54 Votes: 53.70% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 196 Votes: 50.0% Annoying