The Washington Post debuted its first Super Bowl commercial — a message underscoring the importance of newsgathering and the dangers journalists can face.
The 60-second spot, narrated by actor Tom Hanks and produced in partnership with Mark Woollen and Associates, shows scenes from major news events from World War II through the present day.
Hanks’s narration describes the role of journalists as eyewitnesses and gatherers of fact, as well as the profession’s larger importance to society.
The commercial ends with The Washington Post’s logo and its slogan, “Democracy Dies in Darkness.”
Watch the ad here:
“The Super Bowl is a remarkable moment to recognize the courage and commitment of journalists around the world that is so essential to our democracy,” said Fred Ryan, publisher and CEO of The Washington Post. “We decided to seize the opportunity to make this a milestone moment in our ongoing campaign.”
The advertisement showed several slain and missing journalists affiliated with The Washington Post and other publications, including freelance reporter Austin Tice, who has been missing in Syria for more than six years.
Tice is believed to be alive, though his whereabouts are unknown.
Another freelance journalist, columnist Jamal Khashoggi, was killed at the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018.
The CIA determined, with high confidence, that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered Khashoggi’s assassination.
A third journalist shown in the commercial, Marie Colvin, was an American war correspondent for the Sunday Times in London.
She was killed in 2012 by Syrian forces while reporting in Homs, Syria.
Colvin is the subject of the 2018 film “A Private War,” and on Wednesday, a U.S. court ordered the Syrian government to pay $302 million in damages to Colvin’s family.