Lyra McKee

She wasn’t afraid to take on big challenges with long timescales: in her first year at Birmingham City University she decided to look into children who went missing during the Troubles . (More than 5 years later those first steps were due to come to fruition in the book she was preparing to publish when she was killed.) Then, in 2014, she wanted to look into the unsolved murder of a politician. Being told she hadn’t “paid her dues” by one editor didn’t deter her —instead, she turned to her readers, beginning an experiment in crowdfunding support to pursue the investigation. Sitting on an early Ryanair flight from Belfast to London, Lyra hadn’t had time to celebrate — or sleep — but she was happy. Her passion had been vindicated; she was no longer alone in her belief that this was a story that needed telling: 200 people had backed her. We met at Holborn tube station wearing grins that went from ear to ear, unable to believe what had just happened. Then we walked to the conference and I got to continue grinning as I watched Lyra nail her talk. Years later, those backers would get a for-your-eyes-only preview of Lyra’s work in the ebook “A Boy Soaked in Moonlight”. In her email accompanying the release Lyra wrote: Little did I know the doors this project would open for me. The last three years have been a whirlwind. Forbes Magazine named me one of their 30 under 30 in media in Europe; my stories were published everywhere from America’s The Atlantic and BuzzFeed; I delivered training courses to journalists in The Times and The Sunday Times; I spoke at conferences; the list goes on. Lyra continued to inspire me, taking risks, getting out there. It’s not true that she was fearless — she was afraid as anyone else. But she would do what she did anyway, having faith that it was worth doing regardless. In 2017 Lyra returned to Birmingham City University for the Rethink Media conference, speaking frankly and eloquently about class bias in the journalism industry . I’m devastated by the news of Lyra’s death. I loved working with her. She was tenacious, a fighter, passionate about journalism, and full of love for her family and partner. She had worked for a decade to get to a good place, and we had been talking about what she could do from that place. I’m angry that we’ll never get to see what she would have done next, so I watch that video, thinking about what she achieved in those 10 years, and how happy she was. And I will miss her. We at The Quill are still stunned by the death and tragic loss of our friend Lyra McKee. Sarah Kay gives us a glimpse… Data journalist at the BBC and hackademic at Birmingham City University. Author of the Online Journalism Handbook. Publisher, Online Journalism Blog