{"id":44726,"date":"2026-05-18T17:07:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T15:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=44726"},"modified":"2026-05-18T17:10:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T15:10:59","slug":"notebooks-not-rifles-the-tragic-reckoning-of-journalists-who-became-the-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/18\/notebooks-not-rifles-the-tragic-reckoning-of-journalists-who-became-the-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Notebooks, Not Rifles: The tragic reckoning of journalists who became the story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Writer: Wole Simon<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Journalists set out with notebooks, pens, cameras, a flak jacket, and a helmet with the wording \u201cPRESS\u201d. These are the weapons used during information gathering and documentation. This is ethical and protective.<\/p>\n

It is what distinguishes a pressman from the combat. On the other hand, no soldier carries a flak jacket over a press vest; no fighter tucks a reporter\u2019s ID next to a magazine of ammunition. Yet in conflict zones around the world, from Ukraine to Myanmar, from Ethiopia to South Sudan, and from the Gaza Strip to Lebanon, journalists keep dying in big numbers.<\/p>\n

The high mortality rate of journalists’ deaths manifests the existence of gaps somewhere between classroom teaching and frontline conduct; the simple fact of forgetting the cardinal rule of conflict reporting is that you are a witness, not a warrior.<\/p>\n

The death toll is staggering. Let’s first consider the recent theatres of war in the Middle East. In Gaza alone, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that at least 235 Palestinian media workers have been killed since October 2023.<\/p>\n

Among them are names that now read like a school roll call, but unfortunately, dead dedicated Palestinian fighters, whom I would not name here. For example, in one single incident, three journalists were killed in a single airstrike on their vehicle in central Gaza in January 2026.<\/p>\n

Many died while documenting airstrikes, displacement camps, collapsed hospitals, and civilian suffering directly from the line of fire. Some were killed while travelling to areas of intense fighting between Hamas and the IDF, though in clearly marked press vehicles, and others died inside media tents, homes, or while filming humanitarian operations.<\/p>\n

In Lebanon, the Lebanese Press Syndicate has confirmed at least 27 journalists killed since March 2026. Just like in the case of Gaza, the Lebanese journalists wanted to get first-hand information in the war zone without leaving the dust to settle first.<\/p>\n

All of their travel was yet monitored closely by the Israeli IDF, equipped with modern technology, including drones, sophisticated cameras, and highly intelligent agents.<\/p>\n

Following these incidents of journalists’ deaths, it is not accidental, random, or by bad luck. It suggests the killings or deaths follow a pattern and are connected to the dangerous conditions of war reporting, repeated military actions, or systemic failures to protect journalists.<\/p>\n

They are the product of a deeper ethical collapse in those conflicts because journalists have become forces of resistance rather than neutral observers. For this reason, instead of safely documenting and reporting the war events as expected of them, they have followed events as if they were soldiers themselves.<\/p>\n

They have turned their own deaths into the very story they should have lived to tell. This is fitting; the Africans say, “A stubborn fly will eventually follow the corpse to the grave.”<\/p>\n

I know, and you know, every journalism school teaches students the concept of personal security that comes before the story. If the situation does not warrant a journalist going out, you comply. You are a civilian. You have no gun. So why have so many ignored that teaching?<\/p>\n

However, in areas like Gaza, where the entire Strip is a battlefield between Hamas and the IDF, there is no safe space for journalists. But that does not excuse the reckless behavior seen across multiple fronts: journalists embedding themselves with armed groups, driving to hotspot zones, or broadcasting from rooftops next to missile launchers.<\/p>\n

In Lebanon, reporters have accompanied resistance units into close\u2011quarter combat, filing dispatches while standing beside armed men in civilian clothes. That is not journalism; it is a suicide note that all journalists must know.<\/p>\n

It was also noted with concern that in Gaza and Lebanon, as in many other conflict zones, many local journalists have been trained inadequately. Hostile Environment Awareness Training (HEAT) is expensive and rarely offered to freelancers. But even those with proper instruction have chosen to discard it.<\/p>\n

Driven by adrenaline, by the desperate need to \u201cshow the world,\u201d and by the seductive pull of appearing on global networks like Al Jazeera or BBC, they have walked into burning fire where they can’t stop; instead, they ended with no clear plan to retreat. These are places even the devil would fear to enter.<\/p>\n

When a journalist picks up a camera instead of a gun, they are making a choice to be a witness. In Gaza and Lebanon, too many have forgotten that choice or have had it stolen from them by siege, by ideology, or by simple recklessness. The result is the deadliest conflict for the press in modern memory.<\/p>\n

The lesson is stark and unforgiving: your first duty is to stay alive. No byline, no broadcast appearance, and no moment of glory on Al Jazeera or BBC is worth the final story that ends with your own obituary. The world needs its witnesses alive. Without you, the only stories that will be told are the ones written by the generals and the gunmen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Writer: Wole Simon Journalists set out with notebooks, pens, cameras, a flak jacket, and a helmet with the wording \u201cPRESS\u201d. These are the weapons used during information gathering and documentation. This is ethical and protective. It is what distinguishes a pressman from the combat. On the other hand, no soldier[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":44727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89,90,80],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columnists","category-commentary","category-national"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Note-Book-Pen.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44726"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44730,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44726\/revisions\/44730"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}