I may be the last man remotely engaged in journalism still standing who does not have any great opinion about the WikiLeaks release of diplomatic gossip and its curator Julian Assange.
My assessment boils down to bumper sticker status: Shit Happens.
Assange recently wrote an essay defending himself under the headline “Don’t Shoot Messenger for Revealing Uncomfortable Truths.”
Paraphrasing William Shakespeare and Al Gore is one thing. But Assange seems to be hiding behind the vetting as to the veracity of the leaks. He’s playing the truth in numbers game. He writes:
WikiLeaks is not the only publisher of the US embassy cables. Other media outlets, including Britain’s The Guardian, The New York Times, El Pais in Spain and Der Spiegel in Germany have published the same redacted cables.
And, the moral to the WikiLeaks quest:
WikiLeaks coined a new type of journalism: scientific journalism. We work with other media outlets to bring people the news, but also to prove it is true. Scientific journalism allows you to read a news story, then to click online to see the original document it is based on. That way you can judge for yourself: Is the story true? Did the journalist report it accurately?
Democratic societies need a strong media and WikiLeaks is part of that media. The media helps keep government honest. WikiLeaks has revealed some hard truths about the Iraq and Afghan wars, and broken stories about corporate corruption.
Scientific journalism? C’mon man. That’s been the hallmark of responsible journalism for years.
Some have compared WikiLeaks to Daniel Ellsberg releasing the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times.
The only correlation to that coincidence is the blowback. The Nixon Administration tried to sabotage Ellsberg’s credibility by breaking into his psychiatrist’s office. The Obama administration is putting the squeeze on its allies to prosecute Assange on sexual misconduct allegations originating in Sweden.
In the U.S., conservatives cry foul. They say the WikiLeaks undermine U.S. diplomacy. I find that hilarious. It is one of the few times Republicans support the Obama administration on any thing.
In this case, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s protests fall on my deaf ears. The leaks are more embarrassing that the administration got caught than potentially igniting World War III.
I mean I cannot be the only person not sophisticated in diplomatic affairs that our State Department and CIA would not be gathering dirt and personal data on foreign dignitaries.
It seems to me the government should clean up its act in securing its internal messages.
As for the hue and cry over WikiLeaks, I, too, will steal a quote from William Shakespeare:
Me Thinks Thou Protests Too Much.
Jerry Remmers worked 26 years in the newspaper business. His last 23 years was with the Evening Tribune in San Diego where assignments included reporter, assistant city editor, county and politics editor.