WikiLeaks

Julian Assange is a whistleblower and an activist, his ‘WikiLeaks’ site was set up with the intention of giving the public access about the corruption that goes on in the political arena. While there are countries who consider him a terrorist, it is more a ploy by the government to silence the websites frontman and discredit the website. Arresting Julian Assange was supposed to shut down the ‘Wikileaks’ network, but instead it brought more attention to the site (Kinsman, 2011). If we look at the 'WikiLeaks' Twitter account with over 2, 153,000 followers and growing, t shows that WikiLeaks is far from out of business (WikiLeaks, 2014).

 

                                                              (WikiLeaks, 2006)

Social media is an extension of traditional media, but allows for a faster and wider distribution of information into the public sphere. Dissemination of information and the reduction of government corruption has always been a target of investigative journalists. Social media has become a powerful tool for them to distribute the information on a world wide scale with a click of a button. This is essentially what has occurred on ‘Wikileaks’, they have tapped into the internet to spread the outcome of their investigation to a global audience (Knight, 2010)

                                                                (Assange, 2009)

Wiki leaks supports Jenkins view of participatory culture theory as it encouraged freedom of speech by providing low barriers for expression and engagement (Jenkins, 2006). Julian  Assange was a mentor to others and contributors felt a social connection, most of all they felt their contributions mattered. This is supported by Jenkin’s view on mentorship and social connection (Jenkins, 2006).

This short video demonstrates how storytelling and media allow interaction and freedom of expression. 

                                                                  (Jenkins, 2013)

WikiLeaks will still be around in the future and will continue to influence the political landscape by using activism to incite the public to take action. In the future there will be many more of these sites cropping up, as people are becoming increasingly aware of the power and control governments have within society.

Reflection:

Personally I feel that the public is entitled to information about government corruption. Websites like ‘WikiLeaks’ enable us to be more scrutinising of our politicians and their motives for making policies.

What is your view on ‘WikiLeaks’?

Do political activists change your political views?

 

References:

Kinsman, J., 2011. Truth and consequence: the WikiLeaks saga. [Online]
Available at: http://www.irpp.org/en/po/from-climate-change-to-clean-energy/truth-and-consequence-the-wikileaks-saga/
[Accessed 8 January 2014].

Knight, A., 2010. Wikileaks and investigative journalism. [Online]
Available at: http://alanknight.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/wikileaks-and-investigative-journalism/#more-628
[Accessed 8 January 2014].

WikiLeaks, 2014. WikiLeaks@wikileaks on Twitter. [Online]
Available at: https://mobile.twitter.com/wikileaks
[Accessed 8 January 2014].