“Journalism” Murdoch style with the headline, “Life’s a Breach, Julian” in the New York Post: Apparently, the public doesn’t have the right to know everything. The lawyer for WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange whined yesterday that his client is being treated unfairly because a Swedish police report detailing his rape charges was leaked to British newspaper.…
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.
Australians back Wikileaks all the way
It looks like many Australians believe in greater transparency in global dealings. Governments and corporate journalists, are you listening? Most Australians support the release of the WikiLeaks cables, say that Julian Assange should receive legal support, and are critical of the federal government’s rhetoric on the issue, new polling reveals. And support for Assange and…
News flash to hookers; Washington won’t give you anything you haven’t paid dearly for
Kenneth Davidson in the Age gets it right: As former Liberal prime minister John Gorton said in the 1960s, too many Australian politicians and bureaucrats are infected by the puppy dog syndrome: roll over and get your tummy tickled. Not much has changed. We are seen as a loyal ally. In Washington this gives Australian…
Alliances in the name of fighting a bigger enemy
Julian Assange is currently living in Britain under the roof of one Vaughan Smith, a man who believes in a free press. More on him here: Veteran BBC correspondent Loyn, who has known Smith for almost 20 years and worked with him in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq, said Assange and Smith met “relatively recently” when…
US elites don’t want to hear about failings of US elites
This is what passes for serious commentary in the US mainstream media. Dana Milbank in the Washington Post, after smearing Julian Assange and Wikileaks – “I confess I’d like to throw a cream pie in his face myself” – doesn’t like to be told that his beloved US may not be such a fan of…
Rove and Sweden make sweet passionate love
Sweden is not an independent nation: Karl Rove’s help for Sweden as it assists the Obama administration’s prosecution against WikiLeaks could be the latest example of the adage, “Politics makes strange bedfellows.” Rove has advised Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt for the past two years after resigning as Bush White House political advisor in mid-2007.…
Leaking is a noble profession
Will Julian Assange regret being one of the key whistle-blower enablers? If history is any guide – thinking of Daniel Ellsberg and Philip Agee – don’t count on it.
Shut down the web or face a Wikileaks inspired future
A wonderful piece by John Naughton in the Guardian from early December that perfectly captures this Wikileaks moment: What WikiLeaks is really exposing is the extent to which the western democratic system has been hollowed out. In the last decade its political elites have been shown to be incompetent (Ireland, the US and UK in…