Because we need to put a serious check on out of control executive and corporate power (via the New York Times): This much is known: In its hunt for information about three people it believes to be associated with the whistle-blower site WikiLeaks, the Justice Department has sought to extract details about them and their…
Wikileaks
Wikileaks is one of the biggest and most important stories in the world, challenging governments and journalists alike. I’ve been writing extensively about the group since 2006, featured an exclusive interview in 2008 with founder Julian Assange and examined the myriad of issues around the website. Assange himself asked me in the early days whether I wanted to be on the group’s board to vet incoming leaks and determine their veracity before publishing. I agreed but unfortunately this never eventuated.
Wikileaks and Assange remain rightly defiant
In a new interview with Rolling Stone’s Michael Hastings, Julian Assange outlines what is at stake in America’s determination to prosecute him for daring to expose its dirty little secrets: In diplomatic cables, the investigation into WikiLeaks by the U.S. government has been called “unprecedented both in its scale and nature.” How much do you…
Assange; Australian government thinks its true master sits in DC
Julian Assange tells The Power Index that Canberra needs to grow a back-bone (fat chance): WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange remains frustrated by the lack of assistance from the Australian federal government over his prolonged overseas legal plight, three weeks ahead of his appeal against extradition in the UK Supreme Court. In an exclusive interview with… The…
Memo to journalists; your job is to deeply probe and offend the establishment over war
Is there a better description of what all reporters should be doing as explained here by American journalist Michael Hastings… in 2010? Look, I went into journalism to do journalism, not advertising. My views are critical but that shouldn’t be mistaken for hostile – I’m just not a stenographer. There is a body of work that…
Our brave new world; hacking Stratfor
Welcome to the future (via Daily Kos): In the wake of the recent operation by which Stratfor’s servers were compromised, much of the media has focused on the fact that some participants in the attack chose to use obtained customer credit card numbers to make donations to charitable causes. Although this aspect of the operation…
What’s at stake in the Bradley Manning case is fundamental to journalism
Following this week’s hearing against Bradley Manning in the US, something quite profound has occurred, largely ignored by the mainstream media. It’s a point made below by… Kevin Gosztola, who writes “The Dissenter” blog at Firedoglake, on Democracy Now! and should resonate with anybody who cares about journalism that challenges the fundamentals of the state: I…
A letter to the Australian government in support of Julian Assange
I’m proud to sign this letter: This is an open letter to Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and Attorney-General Nicola Roxon. It calls on the Australian government to take steps to ensure Julian Assange’s human rights are protected. It will be delivered on 19 December 2011, but we encourage members of the public to sign the…
John Pilger rightly salutes the vital importance of Wikileaks
DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA? – with John PILGER from CaTV on Vimeo.