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It's interesting to see how leak disclosure has changed over the years. Leakers/reporters are increasingly sophisticated at maximizing the impact of their infor
by ISL 11y ago
It's interesting to see how leak disclosure has changed over the years. Leakers/reporters are increasingly sophisticated at maximizing the impact of their information through titrated disclosure.
Someone, somewhere, is building the theory of the optimal leak.
- chroma 11y agoIf you want to burn your ideas into the minds of as many people as possible, the timings are probably similar to spaced repetition[1]. In other words: Lots of leaks early on; on the order of every day or two. Then taper off and only leak new stuff right before people are likely to forget you exist. If you can stretch things out for six months or so, you're embedded in the public psyche. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition
- woodman 11y agoI'd be surprised if the method employed for Snowden's leak is ever topped - several of the first reveals were responded to by the USG, and then the following day the next reveal would demonstrate the response to be a lie. I don't remember the specifics of it, but I do remember wondering how long it would take the PR folks in government to realize that their spin was actually amplifying the message. I'm pretty sure it took three news cycles. It might have been less to do with masterfully predicting the media and government response, and more to do with the amount of evidence available - but it was hilarious (in the darkest way possible).