In this case, the “cloak” was the reporter’s camera. Behind the viewfinder was anonymity for the reporter and he scored the front page. A few criticisms and voila’, there’s probably a Pulitzer out there for him.

I remember years ago, during the Ethiopian crisis in which children were starving to death, a reporter shot a photo of a child who was near death, simply laying down in the dirt, and a vulture waiting for the inevitable. The photo was powerful, and, after shooting it, he simply walked away, claiming later that he couldn’t possibly be expected to help, as there were thousands of children who needed just as much.

That fool apparently has never experienced the sentiment of the story of the man who was on the beach throwing starfish back into the ocean after they were washed up during a winter storm. Another man walked up to him and laughingly told him he couldn’t possibly make a difference; there were simply too many. As the man tossed another starfish into the ocean, he told the mocking stranger, “Well, I made a difference to THAT one.”