The author wrote early on in the article "It happened not because I was a reporter", so while I can see your point in general, it's not particularly relevant to this article.
The fact that, in some cases, reporters are being directly targeted is however of real importance. Not because something is worse when it happens to a reporter than when it happens to one of the protestors, but because of what it signifies.
It signifies a mixture of two things, which are Mubarak supporters being mislead by propaganda into blaming reporters for what is going on, and also the fact that Mubarak is doing everything he can to prevent free press.
I don't know how much of each of them is in play, could be just one or the other, though I suspect it's around 50/50. Mubarak has shown he has no problem using violence to try and improve his situation, and he's shown in numerous ways that he doesn't like the reporters who aren't state-controlled, so it's not a huge leap of assumption to think that he is encouraging his supporters to attack reporters.
"It happens every year ... in the USA"
Not promoted by the White House in order to try and prevent the country from understanding what is going on. THAT is why this is relevant, not because we have to care more about reporters.
Actually, every year congress votes itself huge security funds for the conventions of the two parties. They bring about the harassing environments by purposely isolating themselves and having a ridiculous police-to-protester ratio.
Back to "freedom of the press" for a moment, there isn't a single arabic nation that has that. Not saying it's right, but it certainly isn't a surprise to walk around among thugs and be harassed and threatened. If they are trying to prove the thugs are thugs, well we already knew that from all the video from the previous few days.
To me it smacks of the idiot weatherpeople who have to go stand out in a hurricane to prove it's windy. Every darn year, every darn storm, every network throws someone into danger saying "ooh look at us, we are in danger, but don't do what we are doing".
The fact that, in some cases, reporters are being directly targeted is however of real importance. Not because something is worse when it happens to a reporter than when it happens to one of the protestors, but because of what it signifies.
It signifies a mixture of two things, which are Mubarak supporters being mislead by propaganda into blaming reporters for what is going on, and also the fact that Mubarak is doing everything he can to prevent free press.
I don't know how much of each of them is in play, could be just one or the other, though I suspect it's around 50/50. Mubarak has shown he has no problem using violence to try and improve his situation, and he's shown in numerous ways that he doesn't like the reporters who aren't state-controlled, so it's not a huge leap of assumption to think that he is encouraging his supporters to attack reporters.
"It happens every year ... in the USA"
Not promoted by the White House in order to try and prevent the country from understanding what is going on. THAT is why this is relevant, not because we have to care more about reporters.