I'm a bonafide war footage junkie. Dunno why, it's just part of my genetic coding. The ironic thing is though, on a certain level I don't have a lot of sympathy for journalists that get themselves blown away in war zones. Of course if you consider the humanity of the situation it's horrible. Left behind kids, wives, families, husbands etc, it's horrible, but like a profession soldier they volunteer for it and walk willingly in to war zones with a camera. No one dopes them up whatever and gaffer tape's a camera to their shoulder.
Alot of what they do they do for personal gain. How much does footage of a civilian being shot a professional soldier 'go for' these days?. What does being in the right spot at the right moment do for a journos career?. Tell me none of these journos consider this stuff when they sign up for it.
Do journalists deserve free access to war zones?. Are doing it 'for me', 'the victims', or themselves?.
Sunday, 10 May 2009
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mostly for themselves for self promotion..like Frank says in the start of the Dead Rising zombie video game "I've covered wars you know"
ReplyDeleteI think we should encourage our generals to write more. That way, like Caeser, they can despatch their own commentaries from the front!
ReplyDeleteI think they do it for all those reasons, but probably mostly themselves. That's really the only reason anyone does anything.
ReplyDeleteThat said, you need them as they provide a level of accountibility to the military.
I agree with Naut. I'm sure their personal motives tend to be selfish, but on a broader front it does provide a MUCH NEEDED level of accountability to the military.
ReplyDeleteI think its a combination of wanting a challenge, wanting something exciting and wanting to tell stories of man at his killing worst. Being the onserver and recorder. Sure there's ego involved but that happens with any caper where people are playing at a high level.
ReplyDeleteThe ones who are simply there for glory wouldn't last long.
A drug for some?.
ReplyDeleteYeah they have to be adrenalin junkies. You wouldn't - couldn't - be there otherwise. And that sort of personality often tends to go hand in hand with being a me-me-me attention seeker who wants to make a spectacle of themselves. They kind of 'self select' for the position.
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