Journalists who risk their lives In the West, the profession of journalism is not always highly regarded. The public tend to see journalists as “hacks”, writers who are less interested in the truth than in telling a story that will sell papers. One exception to this view is that of the war correspondent. These men and women are honoured and respected for their bravery, their willingness to go to war zones, the most dangerous places in the world, and report at firsthand what they see. What motivates them? Interestingly, they all say more or less the same thing, that someone has to witness and record what takes place in war. Martha Gellhorn, the legendary American war correspondent whose career lasted sixty years, reported on every major world conflict of the twentieth century. She perhaps explained the war correspondent’s role best when she said, “If she can do nothing positive, to make the world more liveable or less cruel or stupid, he can at least record truly, and that is something no one else can do, and it is a job that must be done... it is the only revenge that people will ever get: that somebody writes down clearly what happened to them.” To achieve this, war correspondents daily risk death, injury and kidnapping. More than three hundred journalists have been killed in battle zones in the last dozen years, and modern day reporting, with the practice of embedding, where a journalist is attached to a military unit, has made the profession even more risky. When questioned, these brave men and women will tell you that while their first duty is to get as close to the action as possible, it’s equally important not to put yourself in unnecessary danger. As one newspaper editor said, “Never forget, it’s the job of the reporter to tell the story, not to become the story.” 3.War reporting today is _____ A. more dangerous than it mused to be B. less dangerous than it used to be C. different but less dangerous than before D. as dangerous as it used to be