Did WikiLeaks go too far?

• gentrone wrote on 2010-12-01 10:49

  
  By Margaret Wolf Freivogel, Beacon editor
  Posted 1:40 am, Wed., 12.1.10
  
  As journalists, our job is to disclose information to the public. So why do I feel so squeamish about the WikiLeaks disclosure of hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables?
  
  No question, the information is interesting. The catty tone of some private communication is, if nothing else, entertaining. More substantively, the private communication from foreign governments – including China and those in the Middle East -- shows the discrepancy between their public postures and their real beliefs.
  
  No question, information leaked illegally can contribute to the public good. The Pentagon Papers, by documenting the gap between what the U.S. government was saying and doing in Vietnam, helped lay the groundwork for a change in public opinion and government policy.
  
  No question, it’s difficult for journalists to foresee what consequences will result from information we report or withhold. Almost always, the public is better served if we report what we know and let the chips fall where they may than if we self-censor the flow of news in an attempt to protect certain interests or prevent harm.
  
  And yet, the WikiLeaks disclosures still make me squeamish.
  
  Yes, public reporting of government business is good. But the public also benefits when some government business is conducted in private. If the WikiLeaks disclosures cut off candid conversation within the State Department and among governments, that will complicate the task of finding solutions to the world’s problems.
  
  Yes, disclosure of classified documents can be good. But WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange offers a less-than-heroic example to rally around. Profiles portray the man as an egotistical anarchist. He’s on the run because of his information disclosures and also because of rape allegations. His passion for revealing secrets seems untempered by concern about what harm might result.
  
  The New York Times took a more deliberate approach to the documents, redacting information that might harm individuals and generally focusing on stories with public policy implications. But Times editor Bill Keller was vague in articulating its standards for deciding what to publish. The line is fuzzy, he told NPR.
  
  In his note to readers, Keller concluded: “As daunting as it is to publish such material over official objections, it would be presumptuous to conclude that Americans have no right to know what is being done in their name.”
  
  Yes, we journalists should generally publish what we know and let the chips fall where they may. But all or nothing is not the only choice, as the Times itself demonstrated. News organizations have many options about when, how much and what kind of information to make public – many possibilities for minimizing harm while maximizing public knowledge.
  
  By making those choices responsibly, news organizations strengthen the case for freedom of the press. In contrast, WikiLeaks’ presumption that all disclosures are good sets the stage for more government interference in the flow of information.
  
  
  

  
  
  In other news... the Pope is Catholic.
• jener wrote on 2010-12-01 12:22
  -Certified Lurker- And yea wikileaks did go too far. Why doesn't the government shut them down?
• Yogurticecream wrote on 2010-12-01 13:09
  Sometimes people are just blinded by the pursuit of truth.
  Truth is not easy, there's white, black and grey.
  
  It's a difficult topic.
  
  Information can be blown out of proportion or misconstrued or taken out of context when not released at the right time and manner.
  People have their rights to secrets and confidental information.
  About the issue on a certain someone who is accused of ordering people to spy, that was an example of an issue blown out of proportion.
  
  There is nothing corrupt about most the information that has been shown so far. It's mostly gossip and just frank opinions which you can't stop people from having.
  
  I wonder how big the bomb about the next information about a corrupt working of bank in America will be. However, since everything is planned I believe the information released so far is just the icing on the cake. The dirty secrets should be coming out later.
• TA wrote on 2010-12-01 15:52
  Yeah... bad things are probably gonna "accidentally" happen to that guy, me thinks.
• Cannibal wrote on 2010-12-01 15:54
  I'm actually surprised bad things haven't "accidentally" happened already.
• Magenera wrote on 2010-12-01 20:02
  Bad things are happening, to the people who gave the leak.
• Akemii wrote on 2010-12-01 20:10
  We were talking about this in my history class. He's constantly on the move, I believe he's English.
• Cannibal wrote on 2010-12-01 20:27
  No, I read somewhere he was Swedish.
• Spartaaaaa wrote on 2010-12-01 20:36
  What is the government so scared about if they have nothing to hide? And I find it funny that the mainstream media goes out of its way to report every rape and murder and death that happens, but don't give a crap about any real news. You know what I think is unnecessary disclosure, celebrities and professional sports (In other words, 99% of corporate media reports that don't relate to petty crimes).
• Chillax wrote on 2010-12-01 20:39

  Quote from Spartaaaaa;234648:

  What is the government so scared about if they have nothing to hide? And I find it funny that the mainstream media goes out of its way to report every rape and murder and death that happens, but don't give a crap about any real news. You know what I think is unnecessary disclosure, celebrities and professional sports (In other words, 99% of corporate media reports that don't relate to petty crimes).

  
  
  If many regular people have a few skeletons in their closet, you can imagine how many the government has. Sometimes, secrets have to be kept in order to do damage control.
• Akemii wrote on 2010-12-01 21:00

  Quote from Lust;234640:

  No, I read somewhere he was Swedish.

  
  
  Oh well sorry for getting it wrong then Hannah ~.~
• Cannibal wrote on 2010-12-01 21:16

  Quote from Blizaga;234681:

  Oh well sorry for getting it wrong then Hannah ~.~

  
  You should be! :lol:
• Lan wrote on 2010-12-01 21:36
  Apparently he's being put on a most wanted list for rape and molestation allegations.
• Cynic wrote on 2010-12-01 22:18
  Pffttt, damage control. There is a reason the government doesn't make those things public. =P
  Rape and murder are also not petty crimes, mind you. Though compared to all the genocide and self-harm the government does to even it's own people, I do see where you're comin' from.
  
  You can see small tidbits of the chaos the government (primarily America's, I'm sad to say) does just by looking back in history. The USA has released lethal drugs, gas and all kinds of other crap on it's own people. That's considered nice given what else they don't want you to know about.
  The Jew genocide and Nazi experimentations, for instance, are extremely thing compared to some of American's dirty little secrets. Not like they'd ever admit it, though. Pft.
  
  So nah, I don't think they went too far. Exposing the truth is never a bad thing.
• jark007 wrote on 2010-12-01 22:23
  lol hes actually Australian Julian Assange - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia