It’s highly unlikely that the Press Club of India would see a gathering to protest the killings of Rajdeo Ranjans of the world anytime soon, alarmed as it is by the abstract ideas of media under siege. It has less to do with the tyranny of distance and more to do with the convenience of grand political narratives − something in which real threats don’t fit in. English media has been punching above its weight and continues to have the heft to get its voice across corridors of power even with a narrow consumer base. Regional media has been living with the paradox of having a far greater readership base but treated as poor cousins by their colleagues in national media as well as the government. The irony gets more pronounced by the fact that the dangers faced by the foot soldiers of regional media are of the real world, dangers to physical security. That explains why the Hindi media would have to be wise in picking its own battles of media freedom, and not join the chorus of romantic gladiators of a free press in cosy confines of the capital’s Press Club.