I wanted to post this segment from Democracy Now! even though it’s been a while. The WikiLeaks case builds an important framework for 21st century media discourse.
It seems odd/expected that Julian Assange has since signed a book deal, allegedly in order to keep his group’s mission afloat. Should be a rousing read when it drops. According to his conversation with The Sunday Times in London, Assange is determined to defend himself and attack the “smear campaign” that’s followed him throughout much of the year.
However, as Noam Chomsky points out in the video above, the WikiLeaks cables seem most newsworthy due to the reaction they’ve elicited around the world, rather than the actual content they contain.
Journalism, more so now than ever, is a two-way street. At it’s best, it’s a discourse on the state of things. Is Assange a “journalist”? Who cares… He’s opened up a Pandora’s Box in ways that Daniel Ellsberg never had the opportunity to. The world of media and how news is utilized in individual and international decision-making is much, much different for this generation.
Assange is the T-shirt of the week (month, etc.), unfortunately. It would be a better use of one’s time to watch the shifting patterns in international relations during the next year than to follow Assange’s life under house arrest and his impending rape/molestation hearings. Fascinating things will be happening with global journalism – they already are
Sandy 