Posted on 04/20/2011 9:47:13 AM PDT by library user
~ EXCERPT ~
This is terrible news. And important to note the details are still sketchy.
But there are reports that photographers Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros have been killed in Libya.
The news was first posted on fellow photographer Andre Liohn's Facebook page. Liohn is reportedly at the hospital.
Hetherington was nominated for a Oscar this year for the documentary Restrepo which he co-directed with journalist Sebastian Junger.
Chris Hondros is a Pulitzer-Prize nominated war photographer whose work has appeared in the NYT, Newsweek, and the Economist, to name a few.
The two were reportedly covering the fighting in Misrata. Yesterday Hetherington tweeted: "In besieged Libyan city of Misrata. Indiscriminate shelling by Qaddafi forces. No sign of NATO."
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Not to be crass, but ... their death is no more tragic than the death of *any* of the ‘innocents’ in the war. And certainly is less tragic than the death of a doctor trying to save war-wounded kids, for instance.
I hold no special place in my heart for photo-journalists.
Sorry. Just my humble opinion.
I thought he did a phenomenal job with Restrepo.
Sad, RIP.
Any time you feel the need to preface your remarks with a disclaimer like, “not to be crass, but...” you should choose the high road and keep it to yourself.
“...I hold no special place in my heart for photo-journalists............”
Good or bad - without the news crowd and photo-journalists we’d have no news from the off and away places.
I came across it by accident one evening while channel surfing.
Reminded me of what great troops we have and their sense of duty.
Just a great documentary.
FWIW, I agree 100%.
These guys intentionally put themselves in harm’s way for fame and fortune. Nothing wrong with that, and the courage to do so is indeed admirable.
But there are many thousands of young children at risk in the war zone who didn’t get the opportunity to make such a choice. They’re at risk simply because of where they are.
The tears shed by the media over those in the media who are injured or killed lead me to believe they don’t see other people as really real.
He probably saw some people that were not wanted to be Photograph
You say that like it's a bad thing.
BBC: they were killed by mortar fire.
Well the rebels declared war on Ghadafi, don’t be surprised that he has the audacity to fire back.
We tend to be sadder for those we know or know of, than those we have no names for at all.
Death is death, and we do take note of it.
They were in dangers way and got caught. Just like our soldiers.
Our 24 hours a day news channels are desperate to fill the time, and accordingly magnify most everything in the news.
We are not to harden our hearts.
No. I’ll choose to post it. It’s what we do here.
Here’s why. Despite the obvious risk of appearing hard-hearted or crass.
Irrespective of whether or not this man/ these men were noble, talented, gifted, etc., MANY people die in a war. The death of ‘innocents’ is tragic, and a part of me resents it when the journalism world reacts MORE to the loss of their own, than to the death of a child, a father, or particularly a GI serving in the line of duty.
‘They’ make a big deal of when a news anchor dies, for instance. I for one do not hold their position or most of their work in high esteem. Thus I much more regret the passing of a close friend, a devoted father, a brave firefighter, or talented surgeon than a ‘journalist.’ I will say however that the passing of an Ernie Pyle-like figure would elicit a different response.
Respect is more inured to the individual, not the role.
All this is not to dismiss the work of these gentlemen, or to make light of their passing. My remarks were more to express that the loss of their lives, IMHO, is no more tragic than the father and mother and child (un-named) who will die today in some war.
You are welcome to maintain a different perspective. I will retain mine.
p.s. Because I follow his work pretty closely, and even ‘correspond’ on Facebook with him, I WOULD greatly lament the death of Michael Yon were he to be killed covering a conflict. But that’s because I ‘know’ and respect his work, and admire his bravery and character ... AND his respect for, and love of his fellow men in arms AND his country. while this may seem in conflict with my posts above, please understand that my ‘bone to pick’ here is that (a) IMHO journalists are not, as a GROUP, worthy of *special* lamentations, since so many of late have soiled the reputation of the job, and (b) it dismays me that we lament the loss of someone in a profession who takes pictures of a dying child or soldier yet diligently and professionally tries to stay uninvolved and observing while they die. To wit — I recall the perspective of US “journalists” who stated they would NOT take steps to stop US troops from walking into an ambush they (the journalists) had previously observed. I just can’t respect or honor that.
Yep, today’s war journalists bear little resemblance to Ernie Pyle.
To be added to the blood already on Little Stevie Dunham’s hands.
blood on Obama’s hands as far as I am concerned
if you are going to wage war, then lay waste and destroy the enemy
if you are going to play professor, and seek consensus, and manage the polls-—then honor is lost and all manner of tragedy follows
What about the blood being on the hands of the Al-Qaeda supported rebels who thought that picking a fight with Qadafi was a good idea.
The turmoil in South Sudan leading up to it's Independence. How the breaking away of South Sudan will strengthen the hardliners in Khartoum - and what that means for Darfur.
I could go on......
But for those more interested in American Idol - well, I can see your point.
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