Reporting on Suffering

As I sat and listened to Kevin Sites, reporter for The Hot Zone on Yahoo, I found myself very impressed and jealous of his world travels. In my head I thought about how awesome it would be to travel the world and see beautiful landscapes all while taking pictures, writing stories and shooting video. I know it would be a difficult job to do, but what a great opportunity. Then one image from his documentary hit me very hard and I found myself realizing that I could probably never do the job that Sites has done.

In his documentary there was a clip of a Red Cross worker opening a van that was filled with dead children. Then the worker proceeded to pick up a child to show to the camera. It is probably one of the most shocking things I have seen. The body of the boy laid in the workers arms like a heavy blanket, draping down and lifeless. Now I have seen many murders and dead bodies in movies and television shows but this was different. Kevin Sites has done an excellent job at bringing a face to these conflict zones and when I saw this lifeless boy I felt the reality of war in one single frame.

I asked Sites if he has ever felt the need to drop the camera and dive in to help these innocent people that have suffered in the midst of these wars. He told me there have been a couple instances where he has felt that need. One instance, he told me, was in Iran when a group of elderly people were in need and he decided to take action and help instead of reporting their struggles. He said it was like he was helping his grandparents survive. The other instance was in Iraq when he wanted to help a dying man, but passed him by. According to Sites that decision still haunts him today.

These instances that Sites explained to me are the main reasons why I do not think I could perform his job. Personally, I think I would get too attached and feel the need to drop my camera every time to help these suffering people. I remember a story about a photojournalist, Kevin Carter, who committed suicide after winning a Pulitzer for taking a photo of a little South African girl crawling to a food center while being stalked by a vulture. Being in these situations would really take a toll on a reporter and in the example of Carter, he could he lost hope. If I was just reporting and not physically helping in these areas of the world I would feel sick and almost lose some hope as well, but you cannot help others if you take your own life.

I commend Kevin Sites on his excellence in reporting the back stories to these wars. He may not be jumping in to save lives in every war zone, but that is not his job and that is not the best way he can help these people. His main goal is to put a face to these conflicts and make these people who suffer on a daily basis relatable to people around the world.

While, I am probably not going to be a future Kevin Sites, his words and reporting have touched me deeply. It has touched me to the point that I almost need to take a step back and look at the important things in my life. I realize that I am lucky to live in this country where I have freedom to make my own decisions, and I hope that most of my decisions will benefit others more than myself.

I want to personally thank Kevin Sites for coming to UNK to speak and share his story.