Reflection by fundraiser: Why Esquire put “The Falling Man” behind a paywall
Esquire ties one of the darkest stories it has ever written, a tale about an unknown man who jumped from the North Tower of the World Trade Center 13 years ago, with another story of weighty importance—the murders of James Foley and Steven Sotloff by Islamic State. Its goal—to create something positive from both experiences through a paywall, all proceeds from which will go to a scholarship in Foley’s name.
Tom Junod’s “The Falling Man” has been read by nearly 20 million people since we first published it in September 2003. It’s the story behind a single image from September 11th that struck such a raw and terrifying nerve that it was almost immediately banished from public view. It came immediately to mind when photos and video of James Foley’s beheading by ISIS began circling the globe, followed two weeks later by the devastating video of Steven Sotloff’s murder. We wondered whether there was something we could do to honor their courage as journalists. And that’s when we came back to those 20 million readers.
We’ve teamed up with Creatavist and Tinypass on a fundraiser to sell a re-issue of “The Falling Man,” with a new introduction about James Foley. All revenue will go to the James Foley Scholarship Fund at Marquette University’s Diederich College of Communication. Our audacious goal is to raise $200,000, enough to cover a full four-year scholarship. We may fail miserably, or we might surprise ourselves. Either way, we hope you’ll help.
For those who don’t have $3.99 to offer, the paywall is optional.
You couldn’t pay me to read Junod’s (breathtaking, horrifying, brilliant, heartbreaking) “The Falling Man” again – there are still moments from it that show up in nightmares that are all too common this time of year – but I will still gladly pay the four bucks to pretend to click past the paywall for this.
Ditto.
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