The landscape of war journalism has altered massively over the years. Over 1,000 journalists have been killed in action since 1961 and the numbers are soaring, especially in Syria. Yet war correspondents choose to work in the dangerous environments of war and conflict throughout the world.

Reporting from war or conflict zones has always been dangerous and trying, while language and geographical barriers add to the miseries of the correspondent reporting from the frontline. Before the internet, sending despatches was always a challenge with just the telex at one’s disposal. At times, it’s more challenging than gathering facts and figures amidst booming guns.

Not many are aware that the risk to a war correspondent’s life is no less than that to the frontline soldier; and reporting from the frontline often comes with an understanding with the correspondent’s newspaper or agency that he / she is responsible for his / her own life.

Why war correspondents choose to work from the danger zone

Some vow never to return to the war zone, yet others keep going back because they’re drawn to the big moment. There is a certain thrill in being a frontline reporter and their stories attract a high readership. Their efforts and heroics often earn them awards and accolades.

At the recently held ninth Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF), David Grossman from Israel, Christina Lamb and Don Mc Cullin from the UK and the veteran writer and photo-journalist Samantha Subramanian from India spoke about their experiences and challenges as war correspondents.

“Journalists have become targets of war and the danger that they face has magnified many times over,” observed Christina Lamb, The Sunday Times foreign correspondent and author of several bestsellers, the latest being Farewell Kabul: From Afghanistan To A More Dangerous World from which she read excerpts, while discussing the ethics of reporting from dangerous war zones.

David Grossman is an Israeli author, who addressed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his 2008 novel, To the End of the Land. Grossman lives in Israel, within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict zone. “I try to look at the effect of the conflict on both sides and try to understand how it affects human relationships, language and future prospects. So many things are affected by conflict,” he said.

Lamb stressed that Afghanistan was ravaged by war since 1978 and there was no reconstruction or development. The war has left Afghanistan one of the poorest and most dangerous nations.

Yet, she still believes that foreign intervention in Afghanistan is necessary. “We need to understand why foreign powers intervene and what is their interest? They should come out clean with their political plan to end the war. Foreign intervention should not continue without a proper understanding of the ground realities.”

Bitter about the role of various foreign forces in Afghanistan, Grossman agrees that because of their vested interests, outside forces did not allow the war to end.

“I have always approached conflict in an intimate, personal way.As a result, I do not regard my journalism as ‘covering’ anything. Instead I always try to become a witness to the larger picture: I try to look at the effect of this conflict on both sides. I try to understand how conflict affects human relationships, language, prospects of a future.”

Grossman believes that conflict infiltrates the innermost organs of a society and impacts individuals deeply. “The challenge is to remain sombre and disband stereotypes,” he observed that it took courage to expose oneself to the stories and realities of both sides as that was necessary if there was to be any hope of resolving it. “A larger war is lost when people become habituated to it as a way of life, giving up on the possibility of a better alternative and this is why war reporting is so important to keep alternatives alive,” he added.

War photographer Don McCullin produced his first war assignment for The Observer in 1964, covering the civil war in Cyprus. In 1966, he began his 18-year affiliation with The Sunday Times magazine, covering numerous conflicts and battlefields in the Congo, Biafra (Nigeria), Israel, Vietnam, Cambodia, Northern Ireland, Bangladesh, Lebanon, El Salvador and Kurdistan.

Not many are aware that the risk to a war correspondent’s life is no less than that to the frontline soldier; and reporting from the frontline often comes with an understanding with the correspondent’s newspaper or agency that he / she is responsible for his / her own life.

“I am not content with snippets. I want to know the truth. Generally, mainstream news coverage does not necessarily reflect the whole picture and we don’t get too much depth anymore,” said McCullin who prefers to get to the bottom of things as he likes uncovering information through first-hand experiences.

“I feel as though I’m here on false pretences,” smiled Lamb, referring to attending the JLF as The Sunday Times foreign correspondent and not a conventional travel writer.

“I was a witness to a number of incidents of inhuman treatment which I reported with all honesty, but at times the editors back home tried to underplay an episode as they thought publishing such horrific story would only lengthen the war or conflict. At times I agreed with their stand and at times I differed,” said Christina.

Indian journalist, Samanth Subramanian studied journalism and international relations in the US. Since 2001, he worked in different locations in Sri Lanka and wrote about the civil war in his book The Divided Island.

Subramanian’s work focuses on fracturing of the self and society in war. The fear that he has seen on people’s faces during conflict haunts him, he says, adding that it has left him in a “constant existential paradox” that makes it difficult to disengage when he returns home, “You come back. You live with these stories. You frame your own terrors and guilt in the larger picture,” observed Subramanian.

McCullin also described the alienation that he sometimes feels like the “odd man out” as a result of his extreme experiences. “Your personal emotions will catch up with you sooner or later for there are situations you can’t control. Sometimes, I am asked to share stories from conflict zones at dinner parties, but I know that most people don’t want to hear the truth.”

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, February 28th, 2016