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I know this is probably a very unpopular opinion, but I'm going to say it: women reporters simply should not put themselves in this kind of danger. Journalists

I know this is probably a very unpopular opinion, but I'm going to say it: women reporters simply should not put themselves in this kind of danger. Journalists in general shouldn't feel the need to be somewhere their safety isn't secure. But the fact is women are at a much higher risk of assault in many situations because of their gender. Mobs of mostly angry men with no police presence around are precisely the places women shouldn't be. Is one's safety really worth a few more descriptive words of rose pedals and sacrificed goats? In most cases the story isn't whats going on in the mob, but why the mob is there in the first place. One doesn't have to be physically in the middle of it to do excellent reporting. In fact, it seems to me that this idea is one of the problems with modern 'journalism'. It's completely superficial. Just throw your reporter in the middle of the hurricane, record them saying "wow its really windy" and you've done your job. I'll take real in depth reporting from the sidelines over sound-bites and photo-ops any day.

j_baker 16y ago
Perhaps you'd like to be the one to tell them they can't report in situations like this? I think your opinion is less likely to be popular with the reporters themselves.
InclinedPlane 16y ago
Why is it your choice what level of danger anyone else, of any gender, chooses to put themselves in? Why not decide that sky diving, or rock climbing, or automobile racing is too dangerous for anyone?
- hackinthebochs 16y ago
  I never implied I think they should be disallowed from putting themselves in danger. I believe they should themselves choose not to. Further, any external pressures to put themselves in those positions should be removed, such as feeling like your career rests on you being on the front line.
OpieCunningham 16y ago
Journalists in general shouldn't feel the need to be somewhere their safety isn't secure? Really? I'm certainly glad they do it. That's how we get information and it's also a means of limiting atrocities (notice the targeting of journalists in Egypt, the expulsion of Al Jazeera one of the few news outlets regularly available to Egyptians). And journalists can't do their job if they're standing on the outside looking in. Being in the mob is not limited to saying "there's a mob here", it's also how you establish and maintain contacts and sources. Your opinion may be "Very unpopular", but I would also categorize it as myopic and unfortunate.
- hackinthebochs 16y ago
  I'm not saying they should never set foot in a war-torn nation or anywhere with civil unrest. But there is reasonable danger and unreasonable. Walking into the middle of an angry mob in Egypt as a woman is unreasonable. >Being in the mob is not limited to saying "there's a mob here", it's also how you establish and maintain contacts and sources. I disagree. There is very little value gained from being inside the mob. Contacts and sources can be made from the sidelines or once the mob has dispersed.

j_baker 16y ago

Perhaps you'd like to be the one to tell them they can't report in situations like this? I think your opinion is less likely to be popular with the reporters themselves.

InclinedPlane 16y ago

Why is it your choice what level of danger anyone else, of any gender, chooses to put themselves in? Why not decide that sky diving, or rock climbing, or automobile racing is too dangerous for anyone?

hackinthebochs 16y ago
I never implied I think they should be disallowed from putting themselves in danger. I believe they should themselves choose not to. Further, any external pressures to put themselves in those positions should be removed, such as feeling like your career rests on you being on the front line.

OpieCunningham 16y ago

Journalists in general shouldn't feel the need to be somewhere their safety isn't secure? Really? I'm certainly glad they do it. That's how we get information and it's also a means of limiting atrocities (notice the targeting of journalists in Egypt, the expulsion of Al Jazeera one of the few news outlets regularly available to Egyptians). And journalists can't do their job if they're standing on the outside looking in. Being in the mob is not limited to saying "there's a mob here", it's also how you establish and maintain contacts and sources. Your opinion may be "Very unpopular", but I would also categorize it as myopic and unfortunate.

hackinthebochs 16y ago
I'm not saying they should never set foot in a war-torn nation or anywhere with civil unrest. But there is reasonable danger and unreasonable. Walking into the middle of an angry mob in Egypt as a woman is unreasonable. >Being in the mob is not limited to saying "there's a mob here", it's also how you establish and maintain contacts and sources. I disagree. There is very little value gained from being inside the mob. Contacts and sources can be made from the sidelines or once the mob has dispersed.