Putting Their Lives on the Line One Story at a Time

By Michelle Giametta on 08/17/2009

Americans can turn on the television, pick up a newspaper, or put the radio on and get instantaneous information about something happening anywhere in the world miles and miles away. Most people never think twice about how it is these major networks are getting their information. Many reporters put their lives on the line in order to bring the news to people sitting cozily on their couches back home. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 724 journalists have been killed while on duty worldwide. Not to mention the large number of journalists who have been seriously injured or kidnapped while trying to do their jobs.

Sometimes, reporters are kidnapped or detained by governments to be used as pawns in an international political chess game between adversarial countries as was the case with the two American women reporters taken by North Korea, and the American-Iranian reporter held by Iran. Kidnappings like these often force the US to make deals with the offending country.

Most recently two journalists were seriously injured by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan while they were embedded with U.S. troops. An article written for the Associated Press reported that "Eighteen journalists were killed in Afghanistan between 1992 and 2008, making it the 11th most dangerous country in the world for the media."

The concept of embedding reporters with the troops really took off during the second Iraqi War. The purpose of embedding journalists with soldiers is to give the American people and the rest of the world a more accurate description of the events and happenings taking place during war. Would you rather read an article detailing the bombings in Baghdad written by a journalist in California or a reporter literally riding in a tank alongside the brave men and women fighting for us overseas?

Even though reporters who are embedded with the troops are given training by the military and are safer than independently running around the country trying to get the story, the practice of embedding is still a very dangerous one. ABC reporter, Bob Woodruff, suffered "a traumatic brain injury when a roadside bomb struck his Iraqi army transport vehicle in Taji, Iraq." Woodruff's recovery took many months of rehabilitation, which included learning how to speak again.

Although Woodruff had a happy ending, there are many reporters who suffer an unluckier fate. Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter, went "to Karachi to interview a local Muslim cleric who was said to have ties to alleged "shoe-bomber" Richard Reid." Unfortunately Pearl trusted the wrong people and ended up being beheaded by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, also known as the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks. Pearl knew that he was putting himself at serious risk when he was trying to get this interview but went ahead with his efforts anyway because of his dedication to his profession.

Reporters like Pearl and Woodruff are a special breed. Would the news be the same without them? If these reporters are risking their lives to get the latest breaking news, don't we owe it to them to pay more attention to current events?

[Additional Photos: Jane Arraf NBC News, 2006; Bob Woodruff ABC News, 2006; Ann Curry NBC News, 2006]