Those realities impact how I report. I’ve been more mindful of my own security since my former colleague Daniel Pearl was murdered in 2002. Gone are the days when terrorists would turn to a journalist to tell their story. Instead of protecting journalists, a press badge can make us a target.
I’m more sensitive to the consequences of my reporting on others, having seen someone fired for a quote that felt mild to me but provocative to his paranoid employer. That’s more a result of experience than caution. I’ve long advised billionaires to stop giving me their kids’ names. I don’t chase down big names for trite quotes that no one needs to read, nor do I dig for details that people have a right to keep private. Conversations about policy are more likely to be off the record in this environment but I’m still clear that my customer is the reader, not the people we cover.
I was once stalked by a man who felt entitled to harass me about something I’d said on early-morning TV. I dismissed him as an eccentric with too much time on his hands until he emailed one day to ask why I’d brought a baby into the office. That baby was mine, and our security team realized he’d been hanging around the lobby. It was a wakeup call about risks, which is sadly bound to be top of mind this morning for any CEO or public figure.
