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> They have leaked information that mass media would otherwise not have been anywhere close to exposing. Is there a specific case you're thinking of? For inst
by bdhess 10y ago
> They have leaked information that mass media would otherwise not have been anywhere close to exposing.
Is there a specific case you're thinking of? For instance, with the DNC leaks, or with Chelsea Manning's leaks, I believe that the information relevant to the public interest would have been disclosed by any reputable major news outlet (NYT, WashPo, ...) that received it, so long as its authenticity could be verified.
I prefer that leakers go to traditional journalists (à la Snowden) rather than WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks has a track record of creating collateral damage with its disclosures; for example, exposing SSNs and credit card numbers of people who happened to be donors to the DNC and who were otherwise uninvolved with the shenanigans going on. A responsible, ethical journalist would take care to exclude personal information that is tangential to the actual public interest.
- mattlevan 10y agoTo be fair, Assange doesn't seem to release personally identifying information because of malice, but rather his stated fear of the leaks being thrown out in court due to WikiLeaks tampering. He purposefully releases documents in full to prevent evidence-related loopholes closed in court.
- vkou 10y agoIf intentions were horses, beggars would be eating steak. Impact matters - magical thinking does not. What was the actual, observable impact of unabridged Wikileaks documents in court cases?
- douche 10y agoI believe the expression is wish in one hand, and shit in the other; see which one fills up first