Being a foreigner and a New York Times reporter tends to help — it’s always local journalists who face greater danger, as I saw in Mexico and Iraq — and the threats we face did not used to be something many journalists or media companies talked about very often.

But what’s interesting is that for The Times at least, that’s changing.

Our new publisher, A.G. Sulzberger, has been especially vocal as of late, advocating on behalf of journalism and journalists, and trying to persuade President Trump to tone down his rhetoric, such as his references to journalists as the “enemy of the people.”

This week that dispute flared up yet again.

A.G.’s main point speaks to something that is sometimes easy to overlook; that however flawed journalists and our journalism may be, demonizing journalists — especially as a group — hurts democracy, and has the potential to be deadly.

Just this week, the authorities in Maryland said a Coast Guard lieutenant and self-described white nationalist who had been arrested was plotting to kill several prominent American journalists, among others.

“The phrase ‘enemy of the people’ is not just false, it’s dangerous,” A.G. wrote in a statement this week responding to President Trump’s latest broadside (perhaps inspired by this story from us with new details about his efforts to undermine the special counsel investigation). “It has an ugly history of being wielded by dictators and tyrants.”

What you’re seeing now, A.G. argues (along with many political scientists), is the spread of that particular virus.

When the only defenders of journalism are journalists — when elected officials in a democracy behave as if reporters are combatants — leaders with tyrannical instincts become emboldened.