In New York City, having media badges didn't protect reporters from being treated just about as roughly as Occupy Wall Street protesters, Robert Niles points out in the Online Journalism Review. "What's the point of having that credential … if it's not going to keep you from getting hit, gassed or hauled off to jail with the rest of the crowd at a protest you're covering?" Niles asks. Maybe, he says, it's time to rethink the practice.
