The Middle East is in turmoil; violence, oppression and death reek in almost every corner. The pain and sorrow of war has even spread to the United States. Men and women have given their lives defending our precious country. For others however, their lives have been forcefully, and brutally taken. For journalist Steven Sotloff, that is just the case.

I’m sure many of you have glanced at the television set while the remarks toward his inhumane death circulate the media. Some of you, however, may not think past his death or funeral, until another American journalist is mercilessly killed in Syria, Iraq or Turkey.

What could possibly be going through a journalist’s head as he or she boards a plane that will fly, quite possibly, to his or her final destination. Why would they risk their lives to report from a place as dangerous as Syria?

Especially since being a freelance journalist isn’t an easy task. The struggle that journalists face not only include protecting their lives but getting paid for their work.

“Why did you agree to write for so little ($70)?, many of you asked. If we all agreed not to do so, the problem would be solved. And that’s true. But the fact is that of the many brilliant freelancers I have met, those who didn’t agree simply changed job in the end. Instead, I changed jobs to become a journalist. And it’s exactly because I cannot be a journalist under these conditions that I wrote what I wrote,” Francesca Borri said in her article for The Guardian about her experiences in Syria.

In the Middle East, the freelance journalists all know each other and in small ways, work together.

Erin Banco, a freelance journalist was apart of a group of other journalist who had moved overseas to cover the conflict for various reasons. For many it was that they found themselves without a permanent staff job. Some had chosen the freelance life, while others decided they had no other choice, because media organizations were not hiring.

“Reporting in Syria was worth it. We weren’t out chasing war, like many veteran journalists thought we were. We were doing what so many journalists had done before us: reporting the news in, yes, a dangerous environment, but from a conflict that had global significance and would for years to come,” Erin Banco said in his article about going into Syria with James Foley.

As a freelance journalist your life may be asked to be put unwillingly on line for the story. In many situations over the span of 22 years, 1074 journalists have had their lives stripped from them on the job. In 2014 alone 34 journalists were killed, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Dying isn’t in the job description for most freelance journalists, however because of the large number of deaths to journalists, it would have to be in the back of the their heads. Some may think, is it really worth it?

Why risk your life? Because freelance journalists are extremely passionate for their work; and being a freelance journalist isn’t for the faint hearted, especially if you want to report from a war zone. You can expect views of pain, violence and death. Attempts on your life may be taken, because being apart of the action comes at a serious price.