Tutorial #8

There may be a time in a journalist's career that they will be asked to cover stories surrounded by warfare and conflict. There are many challenges that arise from this situation.
The first problem is that to keep safe, the journalist must stick with soldiers. The problem here is that the journalist will only see what the soldier sees, they cannot go off and investigate something they feel they should without risking their lives.
The journalist might also find themselves in the position that they become a part of the military operation. This is a strong negative because it is difficult to report whilst in a conflict zone regardless, even more so when your focus is more on the job and staying alive than writing up a story.
There is a big problem that is caused before the journalist is even put in these situations, and that is the lack of preparation. Can you really prepare someone for the death and destruction that will surround them? How could you ask someone to head straight into the disaster zone and watch people die, people they will have met and conversed with, and come out of it unscathed? The truth is, you can't.
The result of all this is called post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD for short. PTSD comes from situations, such as warfare, where there is a lot of conflict, destruction and even death. It is not restricted to just war, but criminal acts, such as robberies, shootings and murder, motor accidents and natural disasters.

A journalist will be greatly affected if they witness a criminal committing an act against the law and they aren't equipped to handle or even stop the situation. In fact, it can lead to moral conflict because it isn't their job to step in, but the human part in all of us would want it to stop.











A lot of damage can be the result of motor accidents, and a lot of the time people are injured, some even dead. Any sane person would hate to witness these things, yet it is a journalist's job.







When a huge natural catastrophe occurs, it is once again the journalist's job to report. The damage caused by things such as tsunamis, cyclones, earthquakes, etc. are chaotic and disturbing. Homes damaged, people dead or dying, it is enough to cause PTSD in any person, yet a journalist must do their job.