The New York times kept secret the kidnapping of one of its reporters seven months ago. The reporter, David Rohde, apparently escaped from his Taliban captors a few days ago.

And now, as they say, the story can be told. Well, good for Rohde, but how hypocritical can the Times be? Withholding information that might harm troops on the ground, or secret agents behind the lines, has long been considered a journalistic no-no to the poobahs in Manhattan. The “truth” was much more important than mere lives in many cases before Rohde’s.

And in this instance, many other reporters also kept the secret. Imagine that happening in a case that didn’t involve a reporter. Charity begins at home, I guess.

This is not a criticism of the media withholding information in this particular case, but, rather, criticism of its doing it this time when one of their fraternity is endangered, while letting protestations in other cases fall on their deaf editorial ears.