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NARR: 30
Fifty-three days ago, kidnappers abducted BBC journalist Alan Johnston at gunpoint as he drove home from work. No one has heard from him since.
Johnston is the BBC's Gaza correspondent, and one of very few journalists who lives in the Gaza strip.
Yesterday, about 100 journalists and their supporters gathered across the street from United Nation's headquarters in New York … and called for Johnston's release.
Robert Mahoney, deputy director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said Johnston does crucial work, because he acts as an independent witness to what is happening in Gaza.
ACT: 20
He does not represent any country, he does not represent any government. Unfortunately, many journalists around the world have shared the similar fate to that of Alan - they have been abducted in the belief that they can be used as political pawns or bargaining chips. This is quite simply wrong.
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Mahoney said it is increasingly difficult for foreign journalists to report in Gaza, and he worries that that will hinder efforts to tell the Palestinians' story.
As terrorism rises throughout the world, and the wars in Iraq and Arghanistan drag on … journalists face an increasing risk of being kidnapped or killed. Mahoney said those events must be publicized, so that governments remember their responsibility to protect the press, and hold the perpetrators accountable.
ACT: 07
You just cannot, take the life of a journalist or deprive a journalist of his liberty. There has to be a price to be paid for that.
Narr: The BBC has been calling attention to Johnston's captivity on the front page of its web site. Ellen Gabler, Columbia Radio News.