A few weeks ago I wrote a blog about a suicide bomb attack that killed many Iraqis, including two local journalists.  After I read the story, I wanted to know more about those two men who worked for Al Baghdadiya television.  That led me to the news that for the third year in row in 2008, Iraq was the most dangerous country for a journalist.  Sixteen journalists gave their lives here last year while seeking the truth and exercising their newly-acquired freedom of the press. 

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jerry Kammer speaks to a group of Iraqi journalists at the Combined Press Information Center.

Why are so many journalists dying?  It is because they, like terrorists, look for places where people gather.  The journalists were there to peacefully collect the news when the bomb exploded. 

The threat of terrorist attacks is not the only thing that worries journalists here.  On Saturday, the CPIC welcomed Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist Jerry Kammer to a meeting with local journalists.  They listended intently to the stories Mr. Kammer told of his experiences in the United States.  When they had a chance to ask question, they talked about the deaths of their colleagues, but they also talked about the threats from corrupt individuals and others who didn’t want freedom of the press to succeed in Iraq. 

Mr. Kammer is no stranger to his.  He earned his Pulitzer Prize in 2006 for investigating Rep. Duke Cunningham, a corrupt Congressman and military hero.  Cunningham was convicted of several charges that stemmed for accepting more than $2.6 million illegally.

During the CPIC event, Kammer said he knows U.S. investigative  journalists who have received death threats in the pursuit of their work.  His comments struck a chord with the Iraqis in the audience who are faced with similar ethical dilemmas.

“The work you do is more than just about yourself,” Kammer told the audience.  “You must ask yourself what kind of world we are leaving our children.  That should guide your actions.”

I know that some soldiers, including high-ranking officials in Washington, DC, speak ill of journalists; and I know they sometimes deserve the criticism.  However, as a student of journalism and a one-time newspaper reporter, I can tell you that the life of journalist deserves our respection more rather than our ridicule.  The profession does not pay well, and those who choose it know that the public often seems more interested in stories about Hollywood drama rather than public policy decisions that will affect the future of our whole nation.  And more recently, I hear about another U.S. newspaper losing its battle to stay afloat.  The internet and blogs are a new part of the American information landscape — and the professional journalist can see the writing on the wall.

When I talk to those soldiers who don’t share my point of view, I remind them of a statement Abraham Lincoln made before our own Civil War:

“Public sentiment is everything.  With public sentiment, nothing can fail.  Without it, nothing can succeed.”

The media is our military’s conduit to the American public.  It is through the media that we are given the opportunity to shape public sentiment.  The media, like the military, are both specifically mentioned in our Constitution.  Even though the public always gives members of the military much higher approval ratings than members of the media, the public expects and demands that we answer their questions. 

So, to our friends in the Iraqi media, I say this:  Your new freedom of the press is an important one; it is one that you and your countrymen must not only cherish, but also defend on a daily basis.  Whenever and wherever you see a threat to that freedom — whether it is corrupt officials threatening you or terrorists using you as a high-value target — you must not waiver.  As we have demonstated here in your country with the price paid by of our sons and daughters, and as Ronald Reagan said so eloquently:

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.  We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream.  It must be fought for, protected, and handed to them to do the same.”

UPDATE:  Just a few hours after I posted this blog entry, Brett Zongker, an Associated Press writer, posted this  story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090330/ap_on_re_us/journalists_memorial.  His story mentions 13 dead in Iraq; I mention 16, which includes journalists AND media staff killed in 2008.  Either way, it is too many.