His world congeals around what the torturer will do next. Every move is a matter of world shattering consequence, as the victim suffers and simultaneously watches the sadist enjoy his own freedom from concern. True sadists, who enjoy inflicting pain, experience torture as a game and the victim as a toy. The ability to gloat, to taunt, to revel in their own invulnerability and compare it to the victim's enslavement to what they will do next, are part of the essence of sadism. In journalism, the torture is applied to the victim's reputation, his public image and credibility.
Reporters make and break politicians.
They portray their subjects as heroes and scoundrels, and remain unaffected. The reporter has the luxury of publishing his expose tomorrow or waiting a day if the editor wants to bump it for a feature on a lost puppy. He can make the victim's explanation sound plausible or absurd and read his work with equal relish the next morning. But these may feel like life and death issues to the politician, who never knows when he will suffer profound damage and humiliation, and when he will wake up to discover that his opponent has been savaged and he, through no grace of his own, has won a battle. Every edition and newscast, every phone call from the press can be his undoing.