Interesting question but unfortunately as Browncoat indicated, the answer isn't very pretty. Photojournalists aren't in the business of saving - they're paid to capture the story, the few I've known have all said they've practically had to detach from empathy for a living.
That's definitely true. During my stint as a photojournalist, there was of course the boring: bake sales, handshake photo ops, award ceremonies, and just the normal ho-mum everyday life stuff. The interesting: sports, the many faces of the county fair, the rock concerts. And then, there was the rude awakenings: the fires and accident/crime scenes.
I remember the first time I got that 2am phone call from the editor. There was a fire, and the staff photographer was out of town on vacation. There was this feeling of exhilaration as I leapt out of bed, grabbed my gear, and raced off in my car. The drive was about 15 minutes long, and the whole time I just kept wishing that the fire would really be blazing when I got there. What a cool shot that would be, burning orange and red flames rising 5 stories into the night sky. Maybe even get lucky and catch a firefighter pulling someone out of the house....one could hope.
But then as I put my car in park and flashed my media badge to the emergency personnel, it hit me. People's lives are ruined. Someone could be dead, they could
all be dead. What's worse is that after reality hits you, and you have that sick feeling in your stomach, you have to get the shot anyway, no matter how you feel about it. And it's all news, no matter who died or didn't die. No matter how much destruction was caused, everyone wants to read about it the next morning.