“Just be fair”: when does journalism undermine its own reputation? | openDemocracy
https://www.opendemocracy.net/...rizi/just-be-fair-when-does-journalism-undermine-its-own-reputation
YB: What’s the most remarkable experience you have had working on Wikileaks releases and Snowden files?
SM: Access to information which has basically revealed the ‘invisible power’, the state and the intelligence services that act behind our backs. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people are not aware of these dark corners and don’t realize the existence of the full force of the State against them. Assange, Snowden, and Manning have shed tremendous light on the inner government of the world, notwithstanding.
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YB: Do you think that the Metadata programme is still running?
SM: Of course, they carry on as always. Metadata is one of the most important leaks in history. The European Union has done absolutely nothing about this. Metadata has never prevented any kind of terrorist attack. They basically run it not to fight terrorism, but in order to gather information, because information is power.
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It is very damaging that the media likes to portray a confrontation between Wikileaks and the United States. This is propaganda, not the big picture. At the governmental level, the Australian Government has done absolutely nothing regarding Julian Assange's case. I wonder if they have even realized that an Australian citizen is being arbitrarily detained in London just for doing journalism! Wikileaks is an ‘aggressive’ media organization on a mission to fight the ‘invisible power’ behind any government in the world.
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I am not saying that the Guardian should spend its days celebrating WikiLeaks. But it should just be fair.
Take the term "fugitive" they used in their latest story on "Operation Hotel": that is precisely the word the UK government uses to refer to Julian Assange. The Guardian is certainly aware that the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) established that the UK government is responsible for detaining him arbitrarily since 2010.
It definitely knows that the UK government tried to appeal the UNWGAD's decision and lost. So in the eyes of international law, Julian Assange is a vulnerable person under arbitrary detention by the UK government: he is not a fugitive.
I don't think the media should assist powerful governments in whitewashing violations of international law and I don't think the Guardian should help the UK government to smash WikiLeaks: it should act as a watchdog.
WikiLeaks and Julian Assange are definitely not perfect and I do not agree with everything they do regardless: they certainly have made mistakes and some questionable choices. But as a matter of fact, as a long-time media partner, I have been able to verify that the documents they have published are genuine and in the public interest.
This is what a media organisation does: publishing authentic information in the public interest. They have done very important work by providing crucial documents to the public, so that every lawyer, every journalist, every activist and citizen can access the information freely and take informed decisions.
This work is extremely valuable and, it is a matter of fact that this work has been copied or imitated by many. I don't think there is any doubt that the powerful entities exposed by WikiLeaks want to destroy it and I don't think there is any doubt that Julian Assange and his WikiLeaks team face huge legal and extralegal risks. I don't think I have ever seen another media organisation targeted by the full force of the State, as WikiLeaks is. Media like the Guardian should not assist governments and their powerful entities in smashing WikiLeaks. That's not what journalism is supposed to do.