I’m not covering a war torn nation. I work in a secure, on-campus office in the middle of a student union building. As a self-proclaimed, college-captured journalist, I worry about after-graduation employment and dealing with student newsroom drama. Yet there have been a few times (already!) that I’ve wondered about the implications my career choice lays out for my own safety.
The big awards seem to go to journalists who flash notepads in the middle of gun fights and chase soldiers through hostile territories. What does that say for the few of us who wish to make it big without laying our asses out on the line? These days it seems like you have to be kidnapped, beaten and nearly killed to receive any recognition.
Stranger yet, there are plenty of ways to put yourself in danger back home.
Try publishing any controversial story. There's always retaliation. The day Broadside published the "Thirsty Thursday" article, I didn't feel safe in my 'so-called secure' office. Or how about the anthrax scare that occurred in the Gannett Towers the day before I started my internship at USA Today.
There's plenty of grief in simply being a journalist.
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Related: Nicholas Kayser-Bril writes in OJB about a blogger who decided to quit self-publishing when severely beaten in front of the American embassy in Brussels.
-- Why was this not covered? Is it because he's a blogger/freelancer?
-- Where is his award?
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1 comment:
Of course, there is danger everywhere. Anyone who expresses their position publicly, even if that position is saying that by covering something it should get attention, means there is someone out there who will disagree with you; and there are always people who will take it too far or feel in danger from what you write or say.
In some ways, it almost makes being a foreign correspondent in a hostel area seem easier, at least then you know who the bad guys are and where they are coming from.
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