News leaders to Kerry: Free Jason Rezaian

Rezaian, 39, was born in California and holds both U.S. and Iranian citizenships. He was convicted in closed proceedings early in 2015 after being charged with espionage and related allegations. The length of his sentence has not been disclosed publicly.

The letter reads as follows:

Dear Secretary Kerry: Journalism is not a crime. Yet Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian has been imprisoned by Iran since July 2014 for doing his job. Iran has never offered any evidence that even makes a pretense of justifying this imprisonment. We know you agree that Iran should release Jason and on behalf of our organizations and journalists around the world, we are writing to urge you to maintain your efforts to forge a path to that release. Americans are fortunate to live in a nation that respects the role of reporters and the tenets of journalism. As journalists, we understand how central an informed citizenry is to a well functioning democracy. The need for information does not stop at the water's edge. Many of our organizations employ journalists who, like Jason, operate in countries, like Iran, that do not always hold a high regard for the free flow of information. We understand the risks involved, and accept them in fulfilling our commitment to provide Americans and audiences worldwide with the information they need to make informed decisions. At the same time, we depend on the United States and other democratic countries to stand behind the values that Jason represents. Independent journalism is recognized as a fundamental human right. Iran should recognize this, too, and free Jason. The United States has considerable leverage with Iran right now to press that point, and we urge you to continue to do so. Sincerely, Stephen J. Adler
President and Editor-in-Chief
Reuters Raney Aronson-Rath
Executive Producer
FRONTLINE Dean Baquet
Executive Editor
The New York Times Bruce D. Brown
Executive Director
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Kathleen Carroll
Senior Vice President and Executive Editor
The Associated Press Steve Coll
Dean, Graduate School of Journalism
Columbia University Stephen Engelberg
Editor-in-Chief
ProPublica Jeffrey Fager
Executive Producer
60 Minutes Pamela B. Fine
President
American Society of News Editors Susan Glasser
Editor
POLITICO James Goldston
President
ABC News Anders Gyllenhaal
Vice President, News and Washington Editor
McClatchy Sara Just
Senior Vice President & Executive Producer
PBS NewsHour Andrew Lack
Chairman
NBC News and MSNBCDavan Maharaj
Editor
The Los Angeles Times John Micklethwait
Editor-in-Chief
Bloomberg L.P. Jason Mojica
Editor-in-Chief
VICE News Michael Oreskes
Senior Vice President of News and Editorial Director
NPR David Remnick
Editor
The New Yorker David Rhodes
President
CBS NewsRobert J. Rosenthal
Executive Director
The Center for Investigative Reporting Ben Smith
Editor-in-Chief
BuzzFeed Marty M. Steffens
North America Chair
International Press Institute Mike Wilson
Editor
Dallas Morning News
Jeff Zucker
President
CNN Worldwide