"How does that compare with the interest of others in keeping the reporter alive?"

A better question is: who decides whether a given person is important enough to qualify for suppression of information? This comment over at Metafilter makes a good point:

http://www.metafilter.com/82866/Is-this-proof-enough#2627732

"If I were kidnapped by the Taliban tomorrow all the pleading in the world from my family wouldn't get the newspapers to help hide it."