Why I Think Journalism Is not an Easy Job
- Jay Ann Ramirez
- Jul 6, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 6, 2021
If you think journalism is an easy job, think again. This career goes beyond news gathering. A journalist’s job does not end when a story is aired or published online.
Usually, journalists spend their time thinking about news updates, interviews, story ideas, and so on. They provide useful information so that people will make the best possible decisions.
And in the pursuit of telling the truth, journalists risk their lives. From 2011 to 2021, there were 552 journalists killed worldwide with confirmed motivations, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Data from the Committee to Protect Journalists shows that there are 552 journalists killed worldwide with confirmed motivations from 2011 to 2021. (Screenshot from the CPJ's website)
Journalist shot in the head in Amsterdam
Today, Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries is “fighting for his life” after he was shot in the head at Leidseplein square area in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The shooting happened after De Vries left a TV studio around 7:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. Toronto time), according to media reports.
De Vries is a seasoned investigative crime reporter in the Netherlands known for his work in exposing the criminal underground.
Aside from being a journalist, De Vries is also a true-crime author, tv-host, and International Emmy-Award winner.
His work includes investigating the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba in 2005 and the kidnapping of beer tycoon Alfred Henry “Freddy” Heineken in 1983.
WATCH: Peter R. de Vries talks with the Associated Press crew about new evidence in the Holloway case
According to reports, De Vries has received threats in the past like the one from Willem Holleeder, the kidnapper of Heineken. In 2013, Holleeder was convicted of making the threat against De Vries.
Last year, Ridouan Taghi denied reports that he threatened to kill De Vries. Taghi is currently on trial for murder and drug trafficking. De Vries has been acting as a counsellor (not a lawyer) to Nabil B., who is the state witness in the case against Taghi and his alleged associates.
It can be recalled that Nabil B.’s lawyer was gunned down in Amsterdam street in September 2019.
It is not clear if today’s shooting is in connection with De Vries’s acting as a counsellor to the state witness. But if it is, the incident will have been tagged as a crime against a journalist.
Prayers pour in for De Vries
As soon as the news was out, people, including personalities, shared their thoughts and offered prayers for De Vries on social media using the #peterrdevries.
Dutch-Ghanaian Olympian Akwasi Frimpong said he wished the journalist a speedy recovery.
Meteorologist Helga van Leur and singer Tim Douwsma also offered prayers for De Vries.
Netizens like Kapudowitski said De Vries “had a lot of enemies, but he was just doing his job.”
Another Twitter user, Arvind Bachoe, said silencing someone in this way is not okay.
Others offered prayers for De Vries, hoping he will stay alive.
As a journalism student, it makes me sad knowing that people will go above and beyond to silence journalists.
Whatever their motivation is, I still believe that the truth will always come out.
To Mr. De Vries, keep fighting for your life. Stay alive because the world still needs you.
Talk to you soon.
P.S.
This post is part of my 30-day diary, an assignment for my Journalism in Public Life subject. All the embedded links and visuals are attributed. Feel free to leave your comment below or send me a private message if you have questions or clarifications. Thanks for dropping by.
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