And, much as I despise idiots doing the whole making-it-look-dangerous-from-in-front-of-your-four-star-hotel gig, the honest truth is they really DO have to wear that stuff because of the insurance thing. They don’t have a choice… if they want their jobs…. It would be inspiring and heroic if they just ignored the rules, but it’s very clear that there’s no compunction about replacing these “journalists”, no matter how famous and influential. There wasn’t any real discussion of this reality, but rather they chose to just look down their noses at it, elevate themselves at others’ expense.

Disappointing.

And, no, there was no golden age for international correspondents, or journalists in general. There just is now a dark age for their employment. It’s not just up to journalists to try to fix this. It’s up to everyone, and we’re not getting it done.