The importance of leaking to ensure transparency in a democracy is something we should never forget. The great Al Jazeera media program The Listening Post this week tackles Edward Snowden, Bradley Manning and Wikileaks. They asked me to comment on the ways in which the Snowden story unfolded in the press. My clip is at…
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.
Offshore Leaks reveal details of the rich and powerful
Real journalists should be celebrating the leaking of information that provides invaluable background and focus into how our world is really run (Wikileaks and Edward Snowden being two good examples). Equally important is the recent work by The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists: The… ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database… cracks open the impenetrable world of offshore tax havens.…
The remarkable story behind Edward Snowden leak
The Guardian gives a pretty comprehensive insight into the thinking of Snowden and his skepticism towards the corporate press. Read the whole thing: As he pulled a small black suitcase and carried a selection of laptop bags over his shoulders, no one would have paid much attention to Ed Snowden as he arrived at… Hong Kong… International…
Why Edward Snowden is a hero for our times
Listen to his words on the ever-growing US surveillance state and why his whistle-blowing is so essential to accountable democracy; clear, concise, passionate, angry and truthful: There’s been countless vital stories on the role of Snowden, his talking to the Guardian’s Glenn Gleenwald and how so many in the corporate media fail to hold power…
Julian Assange: “Edward Snowden, Prism leaker, is a hero”.
Here’s a recent interview on UK’s Sky News: Assange was also interviewed on ABC TV’s Lateline last night.
Bradley Manning trial starts and the fix is in
This is a classic show trial by an embarrassed and vindictive US government that doesn’t like the world seeing how it rules the world with impunity. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange released a statement on 3 June: As I type these lines, on June 3, 2013, Private First Class Bradley Edward Manning is being tried in…
Julian Assange on the threat posed by US-govt backed web evangelists
What a stunning piece. Julian Assange writes the following review in the New York Times on the kind of mundane yet dangerous “debates” sucked up by many in the mainstream media when it comes to the supposedly liberating nature of the internet. When the corporation becomes far more powerful than the state (and they work…
Full transcript of my interview with Jeremy Scahill
Australian publication New Matilda published my interview with journalist and author Jeremy Scahill yesterday.… Our recent conversation covered many areas so I’m publishing below a full transcript of the interview conducted by phone on 15th May: Where are the main places US is using armed drones outside Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia? One area that…
Talking to Jeremy Scahill on war, drones and Wikileaks
My following interview appears in today’s New Matilda: Journalist Jeremy Scahill has spent his life exposing the dark recesses of US foreign policy. He talks independent media, drones and terror in this exclusive interview with Antony Loewenstein The Weekly Standard is the neo-conservative bible that backed the US wars against Iraq and Afghanistan and today…