WARNING: Article contains graphic contents. If materials such as these offend you, please do not proceed.



Every work in this world has its own hazards, but none can measure up to the hazards that journalists encounter on a daily basis when they're out on the field. (Not including prostitutes and crabs vs soldiers and bullets, mind you). With the advent of citizen journalism (think iReporters on CNN) and mere wanabe artists that's growing like mushrooms, it comes to a point where we ought to stop for a moment and reconsider whether such choices in life is indeed worth it.

Journalisms is a business that brings you the latest of what's going on around the world to the comforts of your coffee table every morning. To foreign wires such as CNN, AFP, TIME, Reuters, etc, this is a thriving industry where one can virtually invest up to millions of dollars for the safety and security of every one of their journos in the field, particularly those who works under extreme pressure the likes of war or even a small public gathering because one never knows what'll happen next. Just think how much Christiane Amanpour is worth?

Many people have asked me how one gets to be a reporter for such foreign wires and work their way up to be war photographers and the likes. Many people I answered I said: "Do you have a family you cherish? Do you have the passion for ethical journalism where you don't take sides? Do you know the risks of doing what people like Daniel Pearl have risked to tell their story? Do you have medical insurance?" The questions went on and on and on and in the end, many left with a feeling of either disdain for their "dreams" evidently seemed far reaching, or a more profound respect to the men and women who put their lives out there for you.

Quoting Anderson Cooper 360 in 2003:

[link] "They are not soldiers. They are journalists. And they die while reporting their stories. Many of the reporters that are dying are not the accidental victims of dangerous situations. These truth tellers are often the targets – and many of these deaths can be categorized as murders.

Around the world – Journalists are increasingly being killed. They die in the crossfire. They die at the hand of criminals and corupt goverments. They die in tragic accidents.
In the case of targeted deaths, these acts are meant to bury both the storytellers and the stories they’re driven to write. We will show the pattern of journalists whose committment to the truth ultimately cost them their lives."

Extreme journalism is difficult to be described in words. Here are a compilation of videos from YouTube that would sum things up for you. (Reminder: Graphic contents. Proceed with discretion. Certain videos require your logging in to YouTube to verify your age before viewing) Just watch. Don't read the biased comments in the videos left by some irresponsible people:

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