Remembering Lyra McKee

Lyra McKee, 29, was shot in the head by the New IRA while reporting on rioting in the Creggan area on Thursday 18 April 2019.

"Lyra McKee had a talent for inspiring people," Paul Bradshaw wrote in this blog post.

"She had zigged and zagged  -  from working with Headliners and Children’s Express and BBC Blast as a 15- and 16- and 17-year-old, to dropping out of university; from being part of the news startup Qluso, to working for a US tech publication from her base in Northern Ireland."

From teaching online investigative journalism to speaking at the Newsrewired conference in April 2013 and again in July 2014, she has greatly contributed to shape investigative journalism.

When you really believe in a story, you will do anything to get it out there.Lyra McKee

"Investigative journalism can be an expensive venture," McKee said while highlighting her time investigating the death of Northern Irish politician Robert Bradford.

Despite initially failing to gather enough funds, perseverance lead her to Beaconreader and ultimately funding that enabled her to continue to investigate the story.

"When you really believe in a story, you will do anything to get it out there," said McKee.

She also regularly blogged about stories she was working on. As a result, she developed a community of readers who began assisting her.

"They were less like readers and more like people who were invested in my work," she described them.

Tributes have been paid to the young reporter by many colleagues in the media and publishing industry.

"Lyra McKee was gifted, brave, kind and funny. I’m proud to have been her literary agent," Janklow and Nesbit agent Will Francis wrote of his client on the company's website.

Mathew Ingram, chief digital writer at Columbia Journalism review, wrote: "She was friendly, and smart, and quick, and she was also an excellent writer and journalist on top of all that."

To preserve McKee's legacy, a crowdfunding campaign was set up on GoFundMe. It is just short of its £60,000 goal at the time of publishing this article, with all funds going to the family of Lyra McKee for funeral expenses.

"I had the pleasure to get to know Lyra through her working on the grassroots campaign to reform the law of libel in Northern Ireland. Lyra was a passionate defender of press freedom and exposing the truth," wrote Michael Harris, who set up the campaign.

National Union of Journalists’ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet has sent the campaign a message of support:

"Lyra’s killing is a shocking tragedy, one that has senselessly cut short the career of a journalist and author who had already achieved so much. Lyra was a proud member of the NUJ’s Belfast and District Branch where she had many friends and colleagues, and was known for her integrity, wit and determination.

"The NUJ’s thoughts and collective condolences are with her partner Sara, Lyra’s mum and the rest of her family and friends. She will be much missed in the union and the wider industry. We would wholeheartedly encourage donations to this fund as a practical act of solidarity in memory of Lyra, to assist her partner and family at this awful time."

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