WHEN JOURNALISTS KEEP QUIET.

After being held by the Taliban for seven months, David Rohde, a New York Times reporter, is free. I never met Rohde, but I felt a tremendous sense of release when I heard the news. Several weeks ago, I asked a colleague of mine – another journalist – about him, and my friend’s answer was succinct: “He’s screwed.” Luckily, that turned out to be untrue. An Afghan journalist named Tahir Ludin, who had been seized along with Rohde, recounted their harrowing escape in Sunday’s New York Times. One reader commented, "What I consider really amazing is that the entire press, I suppose that included international press, were able to keep this confidential for so long."

For months, I had heard about Rohde’s kidnapping and was surprised that nobody wrote any stories about it. The reason for the silence was simple: His family did not want the media to report on it, and so nobody did. But it was never clear – to me, at least – whether a news blackout was the best strategy in securing his release. Yet there was no opportunity to discuss this question openly. It’s an important topic because the kidnapping of journalists has become oddly normal these days and has an impact on how journalists work in Afghanistan and Pakistan and, of course, how the news is reported. At a dinner party in New York several months ago, I sat at a table with two other journalists who had been kidnapped by the Taliban. Both had gotten away unharmed.

It seemed natural to protect the secret of the Rohde family, particularly when the stakes were so high. But it also seemed strange to talk with a bunch of international journalists for months about the different strategies that the families of kidnapping victims might use -- visiting the country where the individual has been kidnapped, offering money for ransom, hiring kidnapping experts -- and yet none of this debate appeared in newspapers or on blogs. The past few months have been an ordeal for everyone who knew Rohde, and even for those who did not know him personally. Thank God the story has turned out well. I hope now that people will have a chance to talk about kidnapping theories in a more open fashion and be prepared for the time when the next kidnapping occurs.

–Tara McKelvey