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A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories firsthand from a war zone.

Their jobs require war correspondents to deliberately go to the most conflict-ridden parts of the world. Once there they attempt to get close enough to the action to provide written accounts, photos, or film footage. Thus, being a war correspondent is often considered the most dangerous form of journalism. On the other hand, war coverage is also one of the most successful branches of journalism. Newspaper sales increase greatly in wartime and television news ratings go up. News organizations have sometimes been accused of warmongering because of the advantages they gather from conflict. William Randolph Hearst is often said to have encouraged the Spanish-American War for this reason. (See Yellow journalism)

Only some conflicts receive extensive worldwide coverage, however. Among recent wars, the Kosovo War received a great deal of coverage, as did the Gulf War. Many third-world wars, however, tend to received less substantial coverage because global audiences are often less interested and the conflicts are also far more dangerous for war correspondents.

Written war correspondents have existed as long as journalism. Before modern journalism it was more common for longer histories to be written at the end of a conflict. The first known of these is Herodotus's account of the Persian Wars, however he did not himself participate in the events. Thucydides, who some years later wrote a history of the Peloponnesian Wars was an observer to the events he described.

The first modern war correspondent is said to be Dutch painter Willem van de Velde, who in 1653 took to sea in a small boat to observe a naval battle between the Dutch and the English, of which he made many sketches on the spot, which he later developed into one big drawing that he added to a report he wrote to the States General. A further modernization came with the development of newspapers and magazines . One of the earliest war correspondents was Henry Crabb Robinson, who covered Napoleon's campaigns in Spain and Germany for The Times of London. William Howard Russell who covered the Crimean War, also for The Times, is often described as the first modern war correspondent. The stories from this era, which were almost as lengthy and analytical as early books on war, took many weeks from being written to being published.

It was not until the telegraph was developed that reports could be sent on a daily basis and events could be reported as they occurred that the short mainly descriptive stories of today became common. The continued progress of technology has allowed live coverage of events via satellite up-links. The rise of twenty-four hour news channels has led to a heightened demand for coverage.

Early film and television news rarely had war correspondents. Rather they would simply collect footage provided by other sources, often the government, and the news anchor would then add narration. This footage was often staged as cameras were large and bulky. This changed dramatically with the Vietnam War when networks from around the world sent cameramen with portable cameras and correspondents. This proved damaging to the United States as the full brutality of war became a daily feature on the nightly news.

Some of them became authors of fiction drawing on their war experiences, including Davis, Crane and Hemingway.

Journalism Portal

• Embedded journalist
• Press pool

Mike Boettcher - From 1980 to 1984, worked at CNN as national security correspondent, covering riots in Miami, the Cuban refugee boat lift, the Israel invasion of Lebanon, the Falklands War, and the kidnapping of General Dozier in Rome. Boettcher then went to work for NBC News as a correspondent and a contributor to "NBC Nightly News," "Today," "Dateline," and MSNBC. He covered the wars in Central & Latin America, Africa, Kosovo, the "First Gulf War," Operation Desert Storm and Afghanistan.

Boettcher has received numerous awards, including four National Emmys, a Peabody, five National Headliner awards and the top award from the National Society of Professional Journalists. He has received the Associated Press Award for Best Spot News Reporting and an award from United Press International for Best Documentary.

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