He is the 32nd journalist killed this year on the job.
While I went to a fine School of Journalism at Drake University and spent roughly ten years as a reporter - I was never a journalist like Mr. Foley.
He willingly served each of us by exposing the dastardly actions being perpetrated on people who might look different than us, but are more like us than not.
He had been captured once before and was released. This time his captors sought to use him for their own purposes - trying to frighten the world into submission.
It's ironic that in our 24/7 cycle of information that actual news is getting lost in the static.
The exploits of Justin Bieber, the Kardashians, and the latest flavor of the week are not News in the capital letter sense of the word.
Even the He said - He said coverage of American politics are not capital letter News stories.
The News protected in the First Amendment and that we need to pay attention to is the sort of knowledge we need to take care of our families, our neighbors, and our world.
Newspapers are struggling to keep up their circulation numbers and TV News is chasing each rating point from a fickle public with a short attention span. I'm guilty of that, too.
It's easier than ever to stick our head under our desk and pretend everything is grand. There are times when we need something to lift our spirits with some uplifting story.
But in an evil and scary world - it should be important to each and every one of us that men and women like James Foley are out there watching, listening, and reporting.
Are we listening?
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