Capital Gazette newspaper where 5 were killed gets outpouring of support
The Capital Gazette newspaper, where a gunman killed five people, is receiving an outpouring of support from the journalism community and the public.
Capital Gazette's parent company has set up a fund to raise money for families of the victims in the mass shooting Thursday, according to the Baltimore Sun, the Gazette's sister newspaper.
The Capital Families Fund will be managed through the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County, and the Michael and Jacky Ferro Family Foundation will match up to $1 million of donations, the Sun reported Friday.
Four journalists and a sales assistant at the newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland, were killed, and two others injured when alleged gunman, Jarrod Ramos, 38, opened fire Thursday. Ramos, who authorities say had targeted the paper, has been charged with five counts of first-degree murder and is being held without bond.
Within hours of the shooting, a Bloomberg journalist, Madi Alexander, set up a GoFundMe account called "Help Capital Gazette Journalists."
"Please give what you can to help the Capital Gazette newsroom and their journalists," Alexander wrote on the GoFundMe campaign page. "Our hearts break for our colleagues in Annapolis and we want to do whatever we possibly can to help them pay for medical bills, funeral costs, newsroom repairs, and any other unforeseen expenses that might arise as a result of this terrible shooting."
She also asks contributors to take a moment to read the obituaries of the Gazette staff members who were killed.
"Remember their names and faces: Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith, Wendi Winters," she wrote.
The account had as of Friday afternoon raised more than $150,000.
Other media organizations and public officials also expressed condolences and support.
"We pledge our support in their recovery and support [the Capital Gazette staff] in the means it takes to mend the hurt and loss,” read a statement from Associated Press Media Editors. “We will support these journalists to enable them to keep covering their community and standing for the values we all treasure – freedom of the press, an obligation to the truth, being on the front line as a watchdog and a way for many to have a voice."
