Reporters are an avant-garde. They declare freedom for us every day. We should be accommodating them and their work. The celebrated Austrian reporter Hugo Portisch said that “journalism is the freest profession,” adding the important qualification: “in a free, democratic world.” Freedom of speech requires institutions that no single free speaker can create. Reporters are the heroes of our time, and heroes are to be defended, not just commended. If we protect those who take risks, then we protect everyone else. If we make their careers safe and appealing, we build a land of the free.
