Over the past few days the world was again reminded of the perils of the journalistic world when it comes to covering a war.

Last Thursday, Michael Kelly, a columnist for the Washington Post, was killed when the Humvee he and a U.S. soldier were traveling in drove off the road into a canal. Yesterday David Bloom, an NBC news correspondent and weekend co-anchor for “The Today Show,” died of a blood clot.

According to an NBC spokesman, Bloom’s death was not combat related. He was packing gear when he collapsed. Medical officials stated later that he died of a pulmonary embolism. He is the second American journalist to die while covering the war in Iraq.

A number of other journalists around the world, including Terry Lloyd from Britain’s Independent Television News (ITN), while covering the war in Iraq. ITN is reporting that they have sufficient evidence to believe that Lloyd was killed in a battle he was covering in Southern Iraq. His cameraman, Fred Nerac and translator, Hussein Osman, are both missing.

“We believe his body to be in Basra hospital, which is still under Iraqi control,” a statement from ITN declared.

Stories like that of Kelly and Lloyd are fresh alerts to the world, particularly those in the news industry, about the dangers of war coverage. This war is different from previous conflicts with scores of reporters who are embedded in military units, providing unprecedented up-close coverage. It is also putting those reporters in perilous situations.

A journalist’s job is to go out and get the story at all cost. With the advent of instantaneous media – mainly cable news and the Internet – the public is constantly demanding more, and reporters are providing.

Sticking reporters on the inside has yielded unparalleled coverage. It has also cost some reporters their lives and gotten others into trouble. Peter Arnett was dismissed from NBC News for granting an interview with Iraqi television, while Geraldo Rivera was withdrawn from the front lines by Fox News after he drew sand diagrams of troop locations.

Certain occupations come with inherent danger built in. Police officers, firefighters, and of course military personnel. The public needs to remember to include journalists in this group. Reporters give up life and limb to bring the news to the rest of the world. They often go long hours with no sleep under miserable conditions just so we can sit back in our living rooms and watch what is going on.

When Daniel Pearl was executed nearly a year ago in Pakistan, America became outraged at the brutal nature of his death and the photographs and videotapes released by his captors. As far as is known, journalists in the war are being killed in accidents and armed conflict, rather than as prisoners, but their deaths are no less noble. They are dying in the line of duty, bringing us the news.

We must remember that although they may seem larger than life in front of us on television, they are all still human beings like the rest of us. They are mortal.

Information from ABC News, Sky News, and ITN was used in this editorial.

Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of The Collegian Editorial Board.