5 ms·

You neglect how much of Assange's media image is his own creation. The very idea that his editorializing and spotlight-seeking are essential to the task of publ

by GHFigs 14y ago

You neglect how much of Assange's media image is his own creation. The very idea that his editorializing and spotlight-seeking are essential to the task of publishing leaked information is one that he created, not one that follows directly from the public interest. He chose the strategy of maximum hype (even if it bends the truth) and selective leaks to paying newspapers (even if it means keeping information from the public). If nobody steps in to his place in that regard, I think we'll all be better off.

richardjordan 14y ago
The only thing that's protected Assange from being bundled into a jet and whisked to a foreign jurisdiction is his high profile. The only reason people are debating the drone strike situation at the moment is because of leaks. Once you show that you can silence even the most high profile of leakers and their mechanisms for getting information out there, don't expect more to step up and do it. I don't think we're better off with the world getting increasingly closed off and governments being able to better protect secrets. Focusing on being offended by someone's personality rather than the core issue of exposing things done behind closed doors in the name of people who may not approve of those things were they aware of them, is an unfortunate tangent to go down.
- MrScruff 14y ago
  The only thing that's protected Assange from being bundled into a jet and whisked to a foreign jurisdiction is his high profile. The only reason you think he's at risk of being bundled into a jet is his high profile. If he'd used his technical abilities to create what many want wikileaks to be - a secure platform for whistleblowers to anonymously communicate with the press, then things would be decidedly different. He has chosen to focus everything around himself. The only reason people are debating the drone strike situation at the moment is because of leaks. I'm not sure why you think this. Most of the drone stories I've read are about the killing of civilians which would be reported without wikileaks. I don't think we're better off with the world getting increasingly closed off and governments being able to better protect secrets. I definitely agree. Focusing on being offended by someone's personality rather than the core issue of exposing things done behind closed doors in the name of people who may not approve of those things were they aware of them, is an unfortunate tangent to go down. But it's the focus on his personality and him in general which many are objecting to.
  - richardjordan 14y ago
    We live in a modern media climate where to make any organization break above the noise and get attention - which it needs if it is to do its job - a narrative inevitably includes founders. Just like here in startup land. Other organizations exist and none of them get attention. RE: Drone strikes http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21333570 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21333570 The reason it's in the news RIGHT NOW is due to the current story about leaked documents showing the US government secret legal case for targeting US citizens. So that's why I think that. Because it happens to be the case. And my point has been that objecting to his personality is a trivial reason to undermine his work, and allowing the climate of hounding him into submission to successfully do so renders leaking a far more dangerous task and one that fewer people will engage in.
    - GHFigs 14y ago
      The reason it's in the news RIGHT NOW is due to the current story about leaked documents showing the US government secret legal case for targeting US citizens. You neglected to mention that the document in question was obtained and published by NBC, not Wikileaks.
- GHFigs 14y ago
  The only thing that's protected Assange from being bundled into a jet and whisked to a foreign jurisdiction is his high profile. Says who? How is that theory anything more than part of the image he's made for himself? The only reason people are debating the drone strike situation at the moment is because of leaks. Even if I agreed with that (which I don't), you've neglected to explain how a Julian Assange figure is a requirement of leaking such information. I don't think we're better off with the world getting increasingly closed off and governments being able to better protect secrets. What I said was that we'd be better off without a Julian Assange like attention-seeker. If you cannot mentally separate his actions from the information, you're only confirming my point that he has created a media image about himself that greatly inflates his personal relevance. Focusing on being offended by someone's personality... Who cares about his personality? It's his actions I judge him on. I'm offended by his distortion of the content of the leaks ("Collateral Murder" is hardly the only example) and his choice to purposefully hold information back for a media-manipulating political purpose. If you want to blindly trust him (or anybody else) in spite of that, you're free too, but I don't think the world would be worse off without that.

by GHFigs 14y ago

richardjordan 14y ago

The only thing that's protected Assange from being bundled into a jet and whisked to a foreign jurisdiction is his high profile. The only reason people are debating the drone strike situation at the moment is because of leaks. Once you show that you can silence even the most high profile of leakers and their mechanisms for getting information out there, don't expect more to step up and do it. I don't think we're better off with the world getting increasingly closed off and governments being able to better protect secrets. Focusing on being offended by someone's personality rather than the core issue of exposing things done behind closed doors in the name of people who may not approve of those things were they aware of them, is an unfortunate tangent to go down.

MrScruff 14y ago
The only thing that's protected Assange from being bundled into a jet and whisked to a foreign jurisdiction is his high profile. The only reason you think he's at risk of being bundled into a jet is his high profile. If he'd used his technical abilities to create what many want wikileaks to be - a secure platform for whistleblowers to anonymously communicate with the press, then things would be decidedly different. He has chosen to focus everything around himself. The only reason people are debating the drone strike situation at the moment is because of leaks. I'm not sure why you think this. Most of the drone stories I've read are about the killing of civilians which would be reported without wikileaks. I don't think we're better off with the world getting increasingly closed off and governments being able to better protect secrets. I definitely agree. Focusing on being offended by someone's personality rather than the core issue of exposing things done behind closed doors in the name of people who may not approve of those things were they aware of them, is an unfortunate tangent to go down. But it's the focus on his personality and him in general which many are objecting to.
- richardjordan 14y ago
  We live in a modern media climate where to make any organization break above the noise and get attention - which it needs if it is to do its job - a narrative inevitably includes founders. Just like here in startup land. Other organizations exist and none of them get attention. RE: Drone strikes http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21333570 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21333570 The reason it's in the news RIGHT NOW is due to the current story about leaked documents showing the US government secret legal case for targeting US citizens. So that's why I think that. Because it happens to be the case. And my point has been that objecting to his personality is a trivial reason to undermine his work, and allowing the climate of hounding him into submission to successfully do so renders leaking a far more dangerous task and one that fewer people will engage in.
  - GHFigs 14y ago
    The reason it's in the news RIGHT NOW is due to the current story about leaked documents showing the US government secret legal case for targeting US citizens. You neglected to mention that the document in question was obtained and published by NBC, not Wikileaks.
GHFigs 14y ago
The only thing that's protected Assange from being bundled into a jet and whisked to a foreign jurisdiction is his high profile. Says who? How is that theory anything more than part of the image he's made for himself? The only reason people are debating the drone strike situation at the moment is because of leaks. Even if I agreed with that (which I don't), you've neglected to explain how a Julian Assange figure is a requirement of leaking such information. I don't think we're better off with the world getting increasingly closed off and governments being able to better protect secrets. What I said was that we'd be better off without a Julian Assange like attention-seeker. If you cannot mentally separate his actions from the information, you're only confirming my point that he has created a media image about himself that greatly inflates his personal relevance. Focusing on being offended by someone's personality... Who cares about his personality? It's his actions I judge him on. I'm offended by his distortion of the content of the leaks ("Collateral Murder" is hardly the only example) and his choice to purposefully hold information back for a media-manipulating political purpose. If you want to blindly trust him (or anybody else) in spite of that, you're free too, but I don't think the world would be worse off without that.