reporters and the iraq war

Reporters always want to be the first to get the story. By actually being there in the middle of the action, they can get live interviews and pictures to the television stations. I think they did this because they felt the country wanted to see exactly what was happening. I don’t think they should be there. For every reporter that goes along, it takes the spot of a soldier that would be there. I think soldiers must feel like they have to protect these people differently because they do not have the training that soldiers have.

On April 6 2003, David Bloom, a reporter for NBC, died in the Iraq desert while he was reporting on the war. He was travelling in a cramped vehicle and suffered from a blood clot because of being in the same position for a long time. On January 29, 2006, Bob Woodruff, a reporter for ABC, and Doug Vogt, an ABC cameraman, were seriously injured by an explosive when they were travelling with the 4th Infantry Division along with the Iraqi Army. They were in an Iraqi vehicle with their upper body exposed. They had to be airlifted out and taken to an Army hospital in Germany.

I have not really seen any reports from the front lines with the Afghanistan war, but that doesn’t mean they are not there. I just don’t keep up with it.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/IraqCoverage/story?id=1553996&page=1

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/04/06/iraq/main547972.shtml