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A third whistleblower / hero. How come none in the government is charged for the multitude of illegal things that has been revealed? But there is still the ins
by sandstrom 12y ago
A third whistleblower / hero.
How come none in the government is charged for the multitude of illegal things that has been revealed? But there is still the insistency of labeling these people as 'leakers' instead of something more appropriate like 'hero' or 'whistleblower'.
- nostromo 12y ago"Hero" is incredibly biased language. No journalist should use that term for Snowden outside of the opinion page. (For what it's worth, I personally view Snowden a hero.) "Leaker" is a factual statement that is focused on a person's activities, not his or her motivations. And it doesn't pass judgement.
- DanBC 12y ago"leaker" has mild negative connotations. "Whistle blower" has more positive connotations.
- delecti 12y ago"Whistle blower" also fairly strongly implies that what the government was doing is negative and should be called out, which the media tends to be hesitant to cal out.
- Aqueous 12y agoI don't think leaker has mild negative connotations, and if it once did, it doesn't anymore because of the popularity of organizations like WikiLeaks. Leaking is in the name, after all.
- freehunter 12y agoYou really don't think WikiLeaks has a negative connotation in the media and the public in and of itself? The media spent a very long time running WikiLeaks through the mud.
- Aqueous 12y agoAnd yet WikiLeaks remains a fairly well-funded organization with a huge following that continues to get leaks - and a major source of stories for that very same news media you say dragged it through the mud.
- runjake 12y ago> "leaker" has mild negative connotations. Agreed. By definition, "leaks" are something that need to be "fixed", after all.
- kbatten 12y agoHero is only as biased as history is and the US has written a lot of history. The US government already considers many military personal heroes today.
- vacri 12y ago'hero' also panders to the black-and-white worldview that's popular in US politics. You're either a hero or a villain; for us or against us; if you're not one of us, you're one of them. It doesn't leave space for complex personalities or events. At Ruxcon last year, the panelists were asked "Is Snowden a hero or a villain?". One panelist quite rightly responded "Who cares?" - that the story shouldn't be about Snowden, but about what was revealed. The more focus put on Snowden, the less mindspace there is for the revelations.
- yutah 12y agoone reason might be that Obama used the Espionage Act more than all previous administrations combined: http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/jan/10/jake-tapper/cnns-tapper-obama-has-used-espionage-act-more-all-/ http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/jan/10/...