‘Raw Courage”

WORDmeister says: I know this is too long, but it’s too heartbreaking to shorten.

“Nicholas Kristof said something prophetic on last Sunday's ‘Reliable Sources’ telecast: ‘I'm not sure people fully appreciate — it is the photographers and the TV journalists and video journalists who take so much of the risk" in war zones. ‘Those of us who have a notebook can hang back a little bit,’ but photographers ‘show so much raw courage.’ . . .

 

“Heidi Levine, a 30-year veteran of war zones like Iraq and Syria, told CNN's John King that fellow photographers in Ukraine are in shock that ‘what we're seeing is actually happening. I mean, how could this be happening in 2022?’ It just feels like ‘we have learned absolutely nothing from history,’ she said.

 

“Levine has been on assignment for The Washington Post in Kyiv. Here are some of her recent photos. She told King about waking up with nightmares. ‘I think I just can't imagine being on the other side of my camera,’ she said.

 

“‘I even saw a cemetery where the graves were destroyed from the shelling,’ she added. ‘So even the dead are not allowed to rest in peace here.’”

 

—Brian Stelter, host, “Reliable Sources: On the Front Lines,” CNN, March 17, 2022. 

 

 

• Editorial Comment: Photojournalists have always shown extreme courage in wartime. Increasingly, it’s also desperation and despair. Listen to photojournalist Heidi Levine's conversation here.

 

 

PeezPIX 

Full Moon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read all about it! The March issue of Senior News: Age & Ageism. Check it out!

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“I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.”—Tom Stoppard

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Edward C. Pease, Ph.D.
Professor & Department Head Emeritus
Department of Journalism & Communication
Utah State University
Today's WORD on Journalism