Reuters people most numerous in roll of slain journalists

Samia Nakhoul, a Reuters correspondent who was wounded in Iraq, helped read the roll at a special memorial service at St Bride's, the journalists' church in Fleet Street, London.

Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin delivered the address and insisted that war reporting must continue despite the dangers. "Despite all the videos you see from the Ministry of Defence or the Pentagon, and all the sanitised language describing smart bombs and pinpoint strikes… the scene on the ground has remained remarkably the same for hundreds of years. Craters. Burned houses. Mutilated bodies. Women weeping for children and husbands. Men for their wives, mothers children,” she said.

"Our mission is to report these horrors of war with accuracy and without prejudice. We always have to ask ourselves whether the level of risk is worth the story. What is bravery, and what is bravado?

“Journalists covering combat shoulder great responsibilities and face difficult choices. Sometimes they pay the ultimate price.  It has never been more dangerous to be a war correspondent, because the journalist in the combat zone has become a prime target."

She added: "Today we must also remember how important it is that news organisations continue to invest in sending us out at great cost, both financial and emotional, to cover stories."

The Reuters people whose names were read out at the 10 November service were: Harry Burton, Saeed Chmagh, Mazen Dana, Azizullah Haidari, Waleed Khaled, Adlan Khasanov, Hiro Muramoto, Dhia Najim, Namir Noor-Eldeen, Taras Protsyuk, Kurt Schork and Fadel Shana.

PHOTO: Samia Nakhoul (left) with the rector of St Bride's the Venerable David Meara, and television journalist Mark Austin. ■