Safety of journalists in a war zone

Occupational safety is a subject that is highly sought after. It is an important aspect of the Human Resources department.
Occupational safety is a practice of protecting people from accidents, injuries and illnesses in the workplace by implementing preventative measures, safe working policies, risk assessment, and employee training to foster a culture of health and well-being. It is a multidisciplinary field that considers all aspects of physical, mental, and social health to create a safe and healthy work environment for everyone involved in or affected by the workplace.
But maybe now it should include death, especially for journalists working in war zones.
An Israeli strike this week on a Gaza medical complex killed 10, including four journalists.
Medics are protected by the Geneva Conventions. This means that anyone who purposefully attacks or kills a medic clearly wearing medical clothing and has no weapon in their hand commits a war crime.
Journalists practice freedom of expression. By nature, they tend to push their luck. They know they might have to push for their stories, but the objective is to get the true story out. War correspondents know their role clearly. There have been war correspondents throughout history, and it was most prominent from World War. Are war correspondents becoming targets today?
A journalist in a war zone also has to be objective and convey what they see and experience. They bring the experiences to the outer world.
Is information important for people to know? Journalists produce news, but is it relevant to others?
The information adds up to become knowledge that is significant for the public, especially in the process of decision-making. The individual journalists must be exceptional in their inner strength and bravery to choose to work in the zones of conflict. Nothing in their environment is normal, in most cases - even for the basic essentials such as food and access to water. For that matter, a hospital must be one of the safest places. But in this situation, they too became victims as the health complex came under fire. This incident too we know because the media was there to report.
The role of war correspondents is crucial in documenting wars, interviewing military personnel and civilians, and exploring the human impact of conflict. They are the witnesses and narrators. They have been the most important link to the public. They document wars and raise the questions against the need for a war.
But what happens when they become the victims of war?
They also have family for whom the loss must be unbearable.
With the development in technology, would we see a change in war reporting?
The answer is yes, methods for war reporting are significantly changing, driven by technology and new conflict dynamics.
Experts also point out that there is a blurring of the line between journalist and combatant. This necessitates new skills, a greater emphasis on personal safety, and an ethical challenge to maintain credibility and report effectively in a fragmented information environment.
Technology has enabled participant and citizen journalism to allow more people to provide coverage from conflict zones. This also has an impact on traditional news reporting.
But what harms the most is when war correspondents lose their lives while on duty, and worse, when they are targeted. Yet another question remains, and that is whether the ethics of war have changed.
Facing the frontline are not just the military, but also the common man, medics, humanitarian workers, and war correspondents.
And then we realise that it is not just about occupational safety, because what do we say to the people for whom living in the war is the reality?