Journalists in danger zones

It’s hard to imagine the adventure and the intensity of being a reporter or journalist in a combat zone. Few people have the stomach for that lifestyle, sadly, those who do have the courage are often losing their lives in the line of reporting.

The latest journalist to lose his life in a combat zone is Tim Hetherington, a photojournalist and codirector of “Restrepo,” an Oscar-nominated documentary film about the Afghanistan war.

Hetherington was killed in Libya after an attack by that Qaddafi forces.

Granted, hundreds of journalists die every time there’s a war, but the death of Hetherington has seemed to strike a chord with many and has become a hot topic on the internet.

There are those who express outrage over the Qaddafi attacks and there are those who feel that his death and hundreds of other journalists that have lost their lives could have been prevented and was unnecessary. It’s no secret that in many hostile countries, journalism is a dangerous practice, particularly for foreigners.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, since 1992 895 journalists have been killed, with 14 already in 2011.
The argument has to be made though, if highly skilled and highly trained combat soldiers are being killed in these hostile places like Afghanistan and Libya and the like, then what chance does an untrained and unarmed journalist have?

Anyone who is committed and passionate about what they do can understand how a journalist makes the call to head into an hostile environment to report on breaking news, but isn’t it a lot like a civilian running into a burning building before the fire department arrives?

Hetherington’s chilling last tweet sheds some light on the situation he spent his last moments in. It read,
“In besieged Libyan city of Misurata. indiscriminate shelling by Qaddafi forces. No sign of NATO.”

No sign of Nato?

As a journalist for the online gambling industry I can’t relate, but I would think that there are some safeguards to keep journalists away from dangerous areas. But then again, which passionate journalist is going to let a little bit of red tape stop them?

I suppose if we all had a choice, doing something we love is how we’d all want to go.

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