In the midst of one of the biggest news stories of the moment is another story sitting quietly waiting to be noticed. I thought I’d shine a little light on it for a moment or two right now. The web site
WikiLeaks has been very much in the news over the last month after they published some 251,287 diplomatic cables sent by U.S. diplomats all over the world. WikiLeaks is dedicated to creating more transparency in governments all over the world. They pursue this goal by obtaining and then releasing documents that the various governments would prefer to keep private.I’m not an unalloyed fan of WikiLeaks. Basically all they do is dump material into the information stream without any analysis or context. While they claim to be part of the journalistic tradition I think they fall short. On the other hand they’ve done a much better job of being responsible about some of the information than their critics would have you believe. They have redacted names (that means they blocked them out before releasing them), they even asked the U.S. government for assistance in doing just that which the government declined. Reactions have been weighed heavily on the side of the hysterical. A Canadian diplomat apparently suggested the head of WikiLeaks should be assassinated, U.S. politicians claim that the organization has “blood” on their hands (a claim that the U.S. Department of Defense seems to contradict curiously) and there’s been much made of the Espionage Act of 1917.
The problem is that what WikiLeaks has done is NOT espionage under the intention of the Act. The original clearly exempted journalists from the definition. And well they might. A strong, even adversarial press is a vital part of the American way of life. We MUST have groups out there digging where the power brokers don’t want us and playing the role of muckraker. It is the single most effective balk on the misuse of power in a democracy. Consequently I am much more disturbed by our government putting the strong arm on American corporations to cut ties with WikiLeaks. There is a much greater threat to our liberties in those actions than in what has been released so far. And we better figure out how to deal with this new adjunct to the world of journalism since a new competing service called OpenLeaks is prepared to debut soon.
What the muckraker pulls up and pushes into our noses is often unpleasant but the role is one that has an honored and vital role in our national life. We shut then down at our own peril.
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
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