Watching this video made me squirm. From Real World IT at ZDNet:

Undercover reporter Michelle Madigan (Associate Producer of NBC Dateline) got a little more than she bargained for when she tried to sneak in to DEFCON 2007 with hidden cameras to get someone to confess to a felony. When DEFCON staff announced the “spot the undercover reporter” game and told the audience that an undercover reporter was taking video to catch someone confessing to a hacking crime, Madigan bolted from the conference premises followed by a pack of ~150 DEFCON attendees and reporters trying to photograph and video tape her.

I really wish she had defended her actions on stage instead of scurrying away without a word. If she accepted the assignment because she felt that having a press badge would have interefered with her reporting the truth, she should have said so and not allowed those people to bully her. Her retreat is understandable given the circumstances but I still wish she had let them have it and fought back. Clearly her intentions were less than honorable so she didn’t feel that she could defend them. I hope I never have to accept an assignment that I couldn’t defend tooth and nail.