The Future of Journalism

Voice of America News online reports that WikiLeaks is following a new strategy in document release.

WikiLeaks has journalists that do journalism and they have won awards in journalism, but VOANews claims that WikiLeaks is "portraying itself as a news organization." It may not be a news organization, but it is definitely a source for news and information.

There is a lot of controversy saying that only a few of the reported documents are being published.

VOANews points out that Julian Assange, creator, thinks that WikiLeaks is a "journalistic institution" :

In a posting this week on the website CommonDreams, Assange said that WikiLeaks has invented a new type of reporting that he calls "scientific journalism" in which people can read a news story, then click online to see its veracity.


The strategy seems to be the gradual release of documents rather than releasing the documents all at once - which makes sense. There should not be complaints about this - people should want to know what the government is covering up.

VOA News continues:

Former CIA deputy director John McLaughlin says officials do not like surprises, and they are getting new ones every day.

"The fact that this is dribbling out, if you're in government now you have to wonder, 'What's next, and what am I going to have to cope with?' And it's likely to come at a bad time when you already have your hands full," said McLaughlin. "So it's another volatile factor in a world that's already too volatile."

The arrangement between WikiLeaks and the news organizations publishing the material - Le Monde in France, El Pais in Spain, the Guardian in Britain, and Der Spiegel in Germany - is unusual. It links media organizations to a group that is under what U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder calls "active, ongoing, serious investigation."


Well it is easier to click through and see a document accompanied with an article rather than have to post it all in a physical newspaper - so maybe this is where web journalism can really be kicking into gear - just thinking about the future of journalism.

"Could become as important a journalistic tool as the Freedom of Information Act." - Time Magazine

The title of this post may come as a shock and seem bold and outrageous at first, but after reading more and more about WikiLeaks directly from the web site itself - the site truly is dedicated to journalism.

The editor-in-chief, Julian Assange, is currently facing a lot of scrutiny involving his personal life - but the personal life of the editor-in-chief of the site should not have any relevance to the site as a whole.

There are so many articles written about the site, but how many actually go to the site? There are all these reports about how terrible it is, but without actually visiting the site the assessment of the site is not really valid.

Of course the government is going to dislike the entire concept of WikiLeaks in general, because the secrets and what is being hidden is being revealed. WikiLeaks in their Mission and Objectives goes into details about their entire reasoning behind what they do.

No one gives the site recognition for winning awards in journalism. Before giving any more opinions based on the reports and allegations of other news sources read the site's very own mission and objectives.

In the 1970s Daniel Ellsberg became known as "the most dangerous man in America." Ellsberg is known for publishing the Pentagon Papers. Some people believe that he is a revolutionist and are grateful for what he exposed, others believe that he is a traitor to America. For those who aren't aware of Ellsberg trial read up on it here.

Also posted at Zennie62.com