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The author writes that there are far more admirable journalists also locked up. This may be true. The interesting thing about Assange is not just that he’s lock

The author writes that there are far more admirable journalists also locked up. This may be true. The interesting thing about Assange is not just that he’s locked up, but that he’s locked up in the UK, for extradition to the US. Again, not to minimize these other journalists, but a journalist being prosecuted in Iran, Belarus, the UAE, etc. is very different from one being persecuted in a western nation with rule of law and free speech.

mc32 3y ago
Agreed. I think what's happened is that journalists used to protect journalists --now they lean a bit towards protecting "like-mindedness" rather then being principled. When Julian was helping release incriminating evidence of US wrongdoing he was a hero, when he released evidence against someone they agreed with then he became persona non-grata and somewhat a pariah in some circles. And yes, that the US and UK are doing this is perverted. We're not supped to be like China ,Russia or Iran.
ChrisRR 3y ago
The argument that "this person/thing isn't impressive because there's other people/things more impressive" is always such a stupid argument The olympic bronze medal winners are still incredibly talented people, even if they didn't win gold.
BariumBlue 3y ago
Is Assange a journalist? I would argue that there's a difference between someone who just dumps documents on the internet, and one who tries to inform and bring attention to issues. I don't consider folks who leak documents on discord or wargame forums to be journalists either. From the article: In an interview with the UK TV station, Channel 4, Assange once said: “Other journalists try to verify sources. We don't do that, we verify documents. We don't care where it came from." Just sharing information does not make one a journalist, Trump is not a journalist for sharing classified info, and I think it's disingenuous to pretend that Assange is wanted for violations against free speech or something.

mc32 3y ago

Agreed. I think what's happened is that journalists used to protect journalists --now they lean a bit towards protecting "like-mindedness" rather then being principled. When Julian was helping release incriminating evidence of US wrongdoing he was a hero, when he released evidence against someone they agreed with then he became persona non-grata and somewhat a pariah in some circles. And yes, that the US and UK are doing this is perverted. We're not supped to be like China ,Russia or Iran.

ChrisRR 3y ago

The argument that "this person/thing isn't impressive because there's other people/things more impressive" is always such a stupid argument The olympic bronze medal winners are still incredibly talented people, even if they didn't win gold.

BariumBlue 3y ago

Is Assange a journalist? I would argue that there's a difference between someone who just dumps documents on the internet, and one who tries to inform and bring attention to issues. I don't consider folks who leak documents on discord or wargame forums to be journalists either. From the article: In an interview with the UK TV station, Channel 4, Assange once said: “Other journalists try to verify sources. We don't do that, we verify documents. We don't care where it came from." Just sharing information does not make one a journalist, Trump is not a journalist for sharing classified info, and I think it's disingenuous to pretend that Assange is wanted for violations against free speech or something.