journalism in danger

Throughout history, photographers and journalists have put their lives on the line to try and portray different events around the world. There have been many cases where images like this one taken in Vietnam and this one taken in Sudan, both pulitzer prize winners, have fostered change around the world by tapping into a basic sense of humanity and not allowing people to ignore what is going on in distant places. However, to take a picture like this, the photographer has to distance themselves to a certain extent. I will not try to attempt to describe what this is like because I am not these photographers, however i have been in similar but far less severe situations where i have come to the realization that i either engage in the situation or i take the time to make a picture and disengage with the "real life" action.
Found over at Exposure Compensation, I was engaged with this article about yet another image that won a pulitzer prize, yet ironically by taking a photograph of another journalist being killed in Myanmar during the protests in September of last year. The absolute senselessness of the killing is a striking reminder of the senseless murder that is going on all over the world, both on a street level and by governments. Even while the journalist was being shot, he was still trying desperately to film - i cannot even imagine the fear one would feel in this situation and yet he is so dedicated as to film the person who is shooting him! I think we should all be aware of not only the scene portrayed by documentary photographers and the fear and desperation often portrayed but also the sacrifice that people go through to make images like this and put them out into the world to bring about a much needed global awareness that is still severely lacking...