I think that is what bugged me most about the story.
In that situation, no one needs to be distracted for a milisecond by anything that would effect survival of your guys and delivery of pain to the bad guys. It is not that it is a female journalist, I would feel the same were it a male journalist. Point being, I don't think that is the time nor place for a journalist to be at all. Especially not with any expectation that they will be coddled-to in the midst of a deadly firefight.