ABSTRACT
Th at Wickramatunga would put himself in harm’s way-and ultimately pay with his life-for the “calling” of journalism demonstrates a singular kind of courage. But the very idea that simply doing journalism put him at risk might be a little diffi cult to understand from the vantage point of the United States, where journalists can generally report on and even criticize the actions of government without fear of violence. Th at freedom is easy for us to take for granted, but was grimly elusive for Wickramatunga. In that fi nal editorial, he off ered this blunt prediction: “When fi nally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me.”
