Reporting from the Frontline: The mindset of a war correspondent – Jerome Starkey

In the second part of The Security Podcast episode with Jerome Starkey, The Sun’s Defence Correspondent, he delves into what motivates war correspondents to report from the frontlines. Starkey recounts a vivid experience of cowering next to a flowerpot while coming under fire and discusses which conflict he found most challenging to cover. He observes that “your imagination is often worse than reality,” as waiting for events to unfold can lead to imagining everything that could go wrong. Starkey shares his journey into journalism and the logistics of reporting from war zones, noting that it takes three days to reach the Ukrainian frontlines from London. He also highlights the challenges of balancing personal life with the demands of his profession, including writing an “in case of my death” letter.