It's been a rough week for the mainstream media. And a deeply disturbing week in many ways.

First, we had The Boston Globe announce that it was closing its foreign bureaus. Just like that. Boom. No more original foreign reporting from one of the nation's biggest newspapers. Write it off to cost savings. But the more this happens, the fewer voices we will have interpreting foreign events for us -- at precisely the time when we need them the most.

The rules of engagement for media interviews can be confusing -- on the record, off the record, background -- particularly when the matter isn't discussed explicitly.

At best this can be embarrassing  At worst it can be a disaster.  Often, it's somewhere in between. 

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that comments made by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at a social event over the weekend rocked the financial markets.