There is an actual reason for that. The real life version of Bond’s organization was No 30 Commando, the unit Ian Fleming served in. These guys were basically Special Forces-cum-Military Intelligence, not undercover operatives. They operated in uniform and did not use cover identities; the two field missions Fleming is known to have gone on, he wore his uniform and never pretended to be anyone else.
In the books, James Bond is an undercover agent using 30 Assualt Commando tactics.
I think it was You Only Live Twice that featured this newspaper article, which was intended to fool Bond’s enemies into thinking he was dead, so he could go undercover. Which seems to be missing the entire point of “secret agents” on multiple levels.
Even the literary Bond still adopts cover identities in many cases. While some books and stories have him performing direct action operations (assassination, open investigation, person tracking, et cetera), in many cases he adopts a cover story and even a legend (fake identity and background). In virtually all of the movies from You Only Live Twice onward, he adopts fake identities as a general practice, even when facing an enemy he has previously encountered and who should be able to recognize him (e.g. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, The Living Daylights). The few instances where he openly uses his real name, many people seem readily aware of who he is even if they aren’t prior antagonists, and he’s about as subtle in disguise as Jason Bourne. (Seriously, Damon, at least put on a wig or use some of those tinted contact lenses you got from the vault in the Swiss bank in Zurich or something.)
Bond is about as realistic of a ‘secret agent’ as Austin Powers, and only slightly less silly in most of the films from 1971 onward.
