The future of war correspondents

According to CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists), 71 percent of journalists who were killed from 1992 to 2006 were murdered, 18 percent were killed by Crossfire / Combat related, and only 10 percent died during other dangerous assignments. Most of them were Print reporters and writers, Broadcast reporters, Camera operators, Photographers, Columnist / Commentators etc.

So, what does the future holds for war correspondent?
Our nation still needs courageous and outstanding journalists to bring news from dangerous places. Let face it. Danger is everywhere anyway. In fact, who would have thought that the peaceful and “Peacemaker” America would see a day like September11? In other words, if you are a journalist out there, you’ve got to be ready or at least be willing to embrace unpredicted as well as unexpected challenges, such as reporting from war zones, in order to satisfy your nation with outstanding breaking news.

A sad situation

November 13, 2006, Ap Associated Press reported the killing of another journalist in Baghdad, a television camera man. It is reported that at least 89 journalists have been killed in Iraq since hostilities began in March 2003, according to Associated Press count based on statistics kept by the New York-based Committee to protect Journalists.

What a sad situation. So then, what is the future of reporting from dangerous zones? In March 2006 Richard Gizbert, a war reporter was fired by the TV network ABC after repeatedly rejecting assignments in war zones like Iraq. The thing is, maybe this journalist was being shrewd enough to think twice about how worth was his life.

I guess it must be great to be labelled ‘Valiant To Work In Dangerous Places’, however, Mission or no mission, life comes first. One could wonder whether or not the money counts? Say your Editor make an offer of an unimaginable dream sum of money. It would go into your bank account on the completion day of your mission, and after bringing an exclusive story to your newspaper or TV network. Well, that sounds great, but what about facing the bombs? Does your Editor know what it feels like to disappear in a flame? I don’t think so.

End of a Courageous and Outspoken Critic

Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian investigative journalist was killed on Saturday October 7, 2006 at her apartment block in Moscow. According to the CIJ (Centre For Investigative Journalism), she was a courageous and outspoken critic of President Putin and was renowned for her principled reporting on the Chechen conflict.

What is happening with our journalism world? How many more indispensable journalists are we going to lose? Although I love adventure, one thing I am sure of is that being a war correspondent is no longer an attractive job to me. Moreover, Reporters Without Borders annual roundup in 2006 counted on January 1, 63 journalists killed, more than 1300 attacked or threaten around the world. A worldwide total of 126 journalists imprisoned.
This doesn’t sound good, does it?