When I was a little kid I never thought I would have to worry about my safety when it came to my job. The thoughts of being shot at, criticized, and being sent death threats never crossed my mind. Many people probably think that I want to be a government official, or go into the military, but the truth is, I’m going into the journalism field.
This year alone 39 journalists have been directly targeted for their work. This number excludes all journalists that have died in the direct line of fire. This means that more than 39 people have died doing a job that should be seemingly safe. The voice of the people is in danger more than ever right now. It makes me wonder, am I willing to risk my life on a controversial story?
The dangers of the job never really fazed me when I first wanted to become a journalist. To be completely honest, I didn’t know there were dangers outside of being a war reporter; a job that I thought sounded like an adventure.
Now, I see news stories of journalists that have been killed just because they were in a country that didn’t like their religion, and reporters that are killed during protests that have gone too far.
While these risks are quite terrifying, I still want to go into this field and face these terrors head on. It is the same thought process a person going into the military would have. Yes, there may be danger and you might die, but the job is worth the risk and that is all that matters.
To me, getting the story and telling the public about what is going on in our country or in the countries our soldiers are stationed, is more important than the risk of dying or being held as a prisoner of war. The people deserve to know what is happening in their world, and I feel like that is the very thing keeping journalists from staying home and missing out on a great report. Yes, I might die, but there is a greater chance that I live and have a great story to tell, both as a news story and a near death experience I can brag about to friends.