Make low key contact with a journalist you trust from one of the big agencies or papers, i. e. Reuters/AP/NYT/CNN, maybe Spiegel.
When the shit hits the fan, they'll be interested in even mundane are-the-shops-still-stocked / what-do-people-think etc. information. After it's over, they'll come and need "stringers", driving them around, translating, arranging interview partners, etc.
They have no trouble paying a few hundred $ per day (for the full-time role), and it can lead to something more permanent, abroad, whatever.
But, of course, be absolutely sure you're safe. The risk isn't so much zero-day exploits used to get into your phone, but your good friend selling you out, or someone fining some notes you threw away.
That's only if any of the parties actually object to the international press, which is relatively rare–domestic news is dangerous, international is PR. For 35 years, every time the US has bombed some country, there were CNN journalist on the ground. And while it has on occasion gone wrong, STDs have been more of a risk than the host countries.
Edit: just saw that you are a journalist, so this fits. I'd probably tend to prefer to appear to be as boring as possible. So unless you're already known anyway, driving a taxi may be preferable to running around with a notepad. And while encryption is better than plain text for anything that matters, having no data whatsoever is preferable to having encrypted data.
Also, nobody here knows what they're talking about. If in doubt, trust your instincts.