Sebastian Junger’s Fight to Save Journalists’ Lives

2 minute read

Ever since the death of his friend and colleague Tim Hetherington, who — along with Getty’s Chris Hondros — was killed in a mortar attack in Libya in April 2011, Sebastian Junger has been advocating for increased medical training for freelance journalists.

“Most journalists who have salaried jobs get medical training, but freelancers are completely independent and often find themselves in very exposed places,” Junger tells TIME. “They fall between the cracks.” A filmmaker, best-selling author and the founder of a nonprofit, Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues (RISC), Junger was inspired to get involved in the fight to save freelancers’ lives after talking with a combat medical officer about Hetherington’s death. The CMO told him that Hetherington could probably have survived his injuries if his colleagues on the scene had had first aid training. Junger resolved to do something to try and help others avoid his friend’s fate.

Junger created RISC in 2012 and has trained close to 200 freelance journalists in the sort of simple and essential medical skills — tying a tourniquet, carrying an injured person to safety, etc. — that, in the field, can mean the difference between life and death.

This year, RISC is holding a benefit auction of photographic prints to raise money to help pay for the training it provides. (Each training session costs $24,000 for 24 New York-based students; overseas sessions cost $36,000.)

This year, 46 photographers have donated prints for the auction, with bids accepted from Nov. 19 until Dec. 3, when the charity will hold a live event at the Aperture gallery in New York City.

Junger hopes to raise $200,000 to sustain the organization and train more than 70 freelance journalists in 2015. “We’re sort of putting it all together each year, and we know we won’t make all of it at the auction,” he says. “But the auction is one way to raise a bit more.”

For more information about RISC, visit the RISC website. The online auction is hosted by Paddle8, with the live event taking place on Dec. 3. Tickets are available now.


Olivier Laurent is the editor of TIME LightBox. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @olivierclaurent


Kyrgystan. Bishkek. March 2005. During the night after the "revolution" bands of thugs had looted the main magazines. The new "government" calls for the formation of a civil defense to guard the buildings.
Prints of the following images will be auctioned to raise funds for RISC, a charity that teaches first aid to freelance photographers and journalists Kyrgystan. Bishkek. March 2005. During the night after the "revolution" bands of thugs had looted the main magazines. The new "government" calls for the formation of a civil defense to guard the buildings.Thomas Dworzak—Magnum Photos
From the series "Infra." South Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, 2011. A car is hauled from a cliff precipice by Hutus on the Numbi road.
From the series "Infra." South Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, 2011. A car is hauled from a cliff precipice by Hutus on the Numbi road.Richard Mosse, courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Afghanistan. Kandahar. March 2005. A boy covers his eyes during a sandstorm in the southern city of Kandahar.
Afghanistan. Kandahar. March 2005. A boy covers his eyes during a sandstorm in the southern city of Kandahar.Moises Saman—Magnum Photos
Need
NeedJehad Nga
During a formal business diner in Happo-En Japanese Garden Restaurant, Tokyo, April 2010.
During a formal business diner in Happo-En Japanese Garden Restaurant, Tokyo, April 2010.Adrian Branco
Cart Horse (near Silvasu de Sus, West Romania), 2011.
Cart Horse (near Silvasu de Sus, West Romania), 2011.Tamas Dezso
Before the Bathing Suit Contest, 2001.
Before the Bathing Suit Contest, 2001.Gillian Laub
Afghan women in Badakhshan, Afghanistan.
Afghan women in Badakhshan, Afghanistan.Diana Markosian
Kenyan women wait for medical checks by a mobile unit with Doctors Without Borders in a village in Turkana, Kenya August 2011.
Kenyan women wait for medical checks by a mobile unit with Doctors Without Borders in a village in Turkana, Kenya August 2011.Lynsey Addario
Tanks maneuvering in the desert during a sandstorm on a foggy morning, NW Iraq, December 2003.
Tanks maneuvering in the desert during a sandstorm on a foggy morning, NW Iraq, December 2003.Teun Voeten
Crying Boy, 2012
Crying Boy, 2012Roger Ballen
Sierra Leone. Freetown. December, 2001. School bell, Mitlon Margai School for the Blind.
Sierra Leone. Freetown. December, 2001. School bell, Mitlon Margai School for the Blind.Tim Hetherington, courtesy of the Tim Hetherington Trust

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