The television flashes images into living rooms around the world. The news comes in short bursts of devastating pictures and catastrophic stories. When war is the subject, the pieces regularly make the viewer feel sympathy for the cause, or more specifically the sympathy for the soldiers on camera. However, it is not only those soldiers that are risking their lives and putting themselves in dangerous situations daily. The footage of these soldiers is taken by reporters who are, in many cases, right there with them in the line of danger.

While the correspondents of war zones are not always in the most highly dangerous positions, they are certainly not free of the rigors of war. They are regularly faced with the same horrendous imagery as those in the service. Unlike the military personnel, though, the media has been charged with capturing the emotion and the gravity of these situations. They are the ones who have to carry the mood back home to the public, who are comfortably watching from their sofas. In many cases, this can be as mentally burdensome as actual combat.

Why then, are reporters putting themselves in these incredibly risky situations? What is it that draws them there? While this can only be completely answered on a personal level (everyone is driven by different things) it is fair to suggest a few generalities. Journalists are, as a group, focused on retrieving and reporting the best stories. This is what journalism is. So, it stands to reason that these war correspondents are simply pursuing the story as far as they can. They are putting themselves at risk to show these war stories to the general public. By spreading the word and gaining the empathy of the people, the horrors of war become much more real and the world becomes more informed. These correspondents put themselves at risk in order to bring a high level of transparency to the world.