Journalism is synonymous with the military or police work in which practitioners put their lives on the line for the sake of their audience.
A news reporter for Pakistani channel GTV News recently became famous internationally after a video of him reporting to his station from under a life-threatening flood water.
Azadar Hussain thought it necessary to risk his life by submerging himself in the devastating flood water up to his neck, in order to make viewers of GTV appreciate vividly, the plight of people of Pakistan’s Kot Chatta region whenever it rains.
In a video that went viral online, the ‘daredevil’ news reporter is seen almost completely submerged in the flood water with only his head and microphone held in one hand on the surface of the water.
He is then heard reporting: “Local residents told us that district authorities have not taken any action and the rain water is now moving towards residential localities and crops have been submerged. Local residents have protested and appealed to the Chief Minister of Punjab and Prime Minister Imran Khan that speedy action should be taken here so that we are saved from the ravages of the flood.”
Inasmuch as Hussain’s bravery gained global attention, some people though it was foolhardy of a news reporter to risk his deer life to that extent, in a bid to portray the suffering of other people.
Odditycentral.com quoted a twitter user as writing: “Assuming that he isn’t sitting, this is downright dangerous and I doubt it very much that he gets life insurance from his employer.”
Another user thought Hussain’s reportage reveals the dangers newsmen are exposed to, while working for their media organisations, some of which do not even appreciate them enough.
“It tells us a lot about the way media orgs treat their staff, especially reporters who work in remote areas,” the twitter user wrote.
Well, despite all these risks journalists take for the betterment of the society, they are being hunted and tortured here in Ghana and other parts of the world for doing their job.
Watch Azadar Hussain’s report in the video below:
