What do you think of WikiLeaks?

Steve Coll wrote in The New Yorker, and I tend to agree with him, that the organization is only performing one-half of what journalism requires, i.e. obtaining information, but not going the extra mile to actually make sense of any of it.

Slate argues today that these continued leaks are going to frank diplomatic discourse almost impossible:

http://www.slate.com/id/2276169/

Slate also argues that Assange's goal isn't actually fostering transparency, but embarrassing the United States. The author argues that the real offenders - secretive regimes like Iran and China - aren't being targeted by Wikileaks.

As a journalist, I'm all for transparency. On the other hand, I have to agree that Assange's zero-context document dumps are coming up short of journalistic responsibility as I know it.

 

Is the Wiki leaker claiming to be a journalist?

 

Oh, dear lord.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45670.html

 

"In a Monday morning message on Twitter, Palin suggests the administration could have taken to the courts to put the breaks on Sunday’s release of 250,000 documents."

Breaks? Really?

 

Yes, there is.

This:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

 

That post is assuming he's not stealing the documents. If he's simply being provided them, then he would seem to be in the clear. And, also, I think he's doing most of his work outside the United States. In fact, I read somewhere that Norway or some country like that was working with him to create basically an anything-goes oasis for free speech.

 

Can you explain how the U.S. Constitution protects the rights of a foreigner to disseminate classified information?

 

I thought that it was covered by the Pentagon Papers case?

 

In that case, wouldn't he be out of our jurisdiction entirely?

 

That's my point. I guess I should have directed it to Mr. Oilysmell.

 

I want to know what purpose it serves.

I also want to know if this puts our troops at additional risk.

 

My beef with Wikileaks is that it doesn't release everything it has. It picks and chooses. If it was truly open, put everything out there.

There are some conspiracy theories that sugges Wikileaks is a CIA front to destabilize regimes.