JOURNALISTS are privileged people. Their work is hugely varied, gives them access to the famous and the powerful, and frequently opens up routes to adventure.

But the idea that journalism is a glamorous world has been shattered over the weekend by the death of respected Irish journalist Martin O'Hagan and the capture in Afghanistan of North-East reporter Yvonne Ridley. O'Hagan, who consistently exposed the drug-dealing and racketeering of Loyalist terrorists in Ulster, was gunned down as he walked home from the pub. He died at the hands of the cowards he condemned in print.

Ridley, formerly of The Northern Echo, is being held by the Taliban after she illegally slipped into Afghanistan to report on the plight of refugees.

We await news of her fate with deep concern.

It is easy to criticise sections of the media. Often, it is deserved because sensationalism, triviality and a warped sense of priorities play too big a part in the presentation of news.

But when we watch our television screens, listen to our radios, and read our newspapers, it should not be taken for granted that dedicated journalists all over the world are putting their lives in danger in pursuit of the news.

Some will call it recklessness, others will call it bravery. In truth, it is a combination of the two.

But the world would be a darker place without the light shone by those who expose all the elements which comprise inhumanity.

THE Indianapolis Grand Prix will not be remembered for the driver who was first over the line.

It will be remembered as the last to be graced by the unique voice and style of Murray Walker.

Like Dan Maskell in tennis and Peter O'Sullevan in horseracing, Walker became part of the sport on which he commentated - engendering greater affection than most of the drivers whizzing round the tracks of the world at blinding speed.

Motor racing will not - cannot - be the same without his nasally hyperbole and Colemanesque leaning towards hilarious gaffes.

"The lead car is absolutely unique except for the one behind which is identical" is one of his best remembered observations.

Murray Walker himself was unique - full stop.