In a recent interview, Assange mentioned that in the first days of WikiLeaks they used to make the leaked files available, without trying to publicize them. The

In a recent interview, Assange mentioned that in the first days of WikiLeaks they used to make the leaked files available, without trying to publicize them. The result was that nobody noticed them. They soon realized that they needed to become editors too, otherwise they would have little impact. Whether you like it or not, Assange's drama whoring has allowed him to become very powerful and to deliver quite a bit of impact. Drama is a means towards an end, and Assange has exploited people's craving for drama in a very smart manner. You say that their goal is to publicize themselves, but to me it seems they're mostly burning bridges with the rest of the world. So, what does publicity buy them? Fame is useless if you can't monetize it, or at least extract something worthwhile out of it.