They get an adrenaline rush when most of us would just break out in a rash of fear.
We have some reporters here who thrive on the danger of combat zone reporting. Jim Dolan and N.J. Burkett are the two who come fastest to mind. They have each been in gawd-forsaken lands where bullets are flying and roadside bombs are exploding and your life can end just-like-that.
They are both fathers, and I know they are aware of the dangers and I know they think about it, but there is something in each that drives them across oceans and into the violent fray.
This is top of mind today because of the gruesome deaths yesterday of two young photographers and journalists in Libya both with New York City ties, Brooklyn to be precise, and one of them with close ties to ABC News.
Chris Hondros and Tim Hetherington were killed covering rebel forces battling it out with Libyan government troops in the city of Misrata. It's unclear exactly what killed them, although it appears to have been from a rocket-launched grenade. They were young guys- 41 and 40, respectively and yet each had already reached the top of his profession.
We like to talk about how the great technology brings us the news so quickly and so intimately. But the technology is just the pipeline to carry the info. It's the people, the journalists who tell us what's happening. And they put their lives at risk doing it. Sometimes, they give their lives. So we remember Hondors and Hetherington today.
We'll have the latest on the conflict in Libya, as well as any breaking news, tonight at 11. Meteorologist Bill Evans (in for Lee Goldberg) will have his AccuWeather forecast, and Rob Powers will have the night's sports, including the latest on Major League Baseball's takeover of the L.A. Dodgers: Could the Mets be next? I hope you can join Sade Baderinwa (in for Liz Cho) and me, tonight at 11.
