A job as a journalist is not easy, I've always known that and I knew that when I picked it as a major, but looking at recent events and how a few reporters have been treated, it's hard not to be at least a little bit anxious about going into the field.

I am a little under one year away from being a fully qualified broadcast journalist, and with the way reporters are being treated right now, it's a little scary.

I mean look at how some of the journalists covering the recent protests were treated or all of the instances of "fake news" going around. Yes, I will agree that people do put things out there that aren't anywhere near the truth, but the majority of journalists and reporters do their research and only report on the facts.

We have literal targets on our backs now.

As far as the protest that have been happening this past weekend, a CNN reporter was arrested on air even after he identified himself as a journalist (and later released) and n Louisville a female reporter was shot with rubber bullets while on-air reporting the protests there and even going as far as not being allowed to go to the protests themselves.

In Cleveland OH, because of the danger, it could pose journalists were told they could not go to the protest. I can NOT stress enough. It is our job and to stop us from doing our job, violates the First Amendment. However, in this case, the mayor later confirmed there was no prohibition of the press.

As a student journalist, I know a lot about my First Amendment rights, specifically the one about freedom of the press. We spent a lot of the first semester of my freshman year going over it and how it helps us.

I know that it allows me to do my job and to ensure people are told what they need to be told.

In total, the US Press Freedom Tracker, a non-profit project, says it is investigating more than 100 "press freedom violations" at protests in the last three days, about 90 of which involve attacks.

So far in 2020, there have been 26 attacked, not counting ones from this past weekend.

I was watching the news the other day and the journalist was literally having to push protesters out of his way and a few of them fought back or walked in front of the camera not caring what was going on.

Here's the thing. I know the job can be dangerous. I mean look at the journalist who are out in floodwaters, hurricanes, and any other natural disasters or the ones that are in the middle of wars (something that I will whole-heartedly admit was a dream of mine at one time).

Our job is to document what is going on; good, bad, and everything in-between.

Yes, I still want to be a reporter, but that doesn't make it any less scary.