Daniel Crocker

Journalism

Mr. Twining

January 23, 2009

What Are The Stakes?

Journalism is one of the most important, however most dangerous jobs in the world today. All of the news we see on television every night or read in the paper every morning comes from dedicated journalists who have a desire to bring the people the truth. Although it maybe easy for journalists in the United States to report the news everyday, journalists around the globe put their life, and their family’s lives in danger when they decide to uncover the truth. This happens all over the world, where the government can filter what the people hear and what they don’t. Country’s governments such as Iraq’s, Iran’s and Russia’s are all able to use fear to control what journalists report in everyday broadcast or in newspapers.

Iraq, since 2003 when the Iraq war began, has become one of the most dangerous countries for journalists to report from. There is a constant threat of being killed, kidnapped or in other ways harmed by the terrorist groups which have such a large influence on the population of Iraq. Since 2003 when the war broke out in Iraq, there have been 252 journalists killed for reporting the news to the people. As a result of this, fear has been generated and now journalists are afraid to report the news. However, some very dedicated journalist, despite the fear, report news every day.

Like Iraq, Iran is another place where journalists there live in fear of being killed for bringing the truth to their country. The power over the journalists the government has in Iran prevents the ability for the citizens to find out what is really going on in their country. For several years, Iran has been at the top of the list in journalists killed each year. Like in 2005, an astonishing 48 journalists were killed in Iran alone. Without the journalists reporting about the government and other news around their nation, the citizens become uninformed of their own country and the world around them.

Russia is another country whose government controls what the reporters deliver to the people. Most people do not know much about what happens in Russia because they are such a secluded country. Vladimir Pooten, the Russian prime minister, is able to control what the rest of the world knows about what is happening in Russia and what happens with the Russian government. This is because Pooten is able to control the journalists from reporting the news to the rest of the world. He also controls what the citizens of Russia know about the Russian government and what they know about the rest of the world. All of this is because of the power Russia has over journalists. To be a journalist in Russia is almost a death sentence.

Journalism is one of the most dangerous professions in the world today. The corruption of governments throughout the world has lead to this major issue. The governments of the world have such great power over the reporters that they can filter what the citizens know about the government. This results in unaware people and an extremely unfair and powerful government.