So when journalists or newspapers openly connect their proper names to criminal activities, they would probably sue them for defamation (which happened before). That's why they use aliases. The threat of having a libel case nailed to your ass is currently far more real than the threat of violence
I remember there was a case in Russia when the thief in law Yevgeniy Vasin has been openly called "thief in law" by a journalist. Vasin sued him for defamation. The journalist then said: "I will present my humble apologies if Mr Vasin will appear on TV and openly tell everybody he is NOT a thief in law". The suit was immediately withdrawn
That's because the thieves in law who publicly renounce the title (even if they lie when they are telling it) are considered traitors by the traditional criminal world in Russia.
