The Society for Professional Journalists recently deemed that “ethical journalism prevailed” in the leaking of hundreds of thousands of classified government documents by WikiLeaks.
In her post on Thursday, SPJ’s President Hagit Limor wouldn’t commit to saying that Julian Assange is not a journalist saying, “To exclude any format will define us as the fools of tomorrow.” Furthermore, she says that the classification of WikiLeaks doesn’t matter to the people because “The world audience just wants information.”
Limor doesn’t doubt the “journalistic value” of the leaked information, as she cites some noteworthy tidbits that were made public.
Where Ms. Limor goes off the rails is when she states that, “Nothing I’ve read rises to the level of endangering lives.” This might be true in the case of the most recent leaks, but on the whole WikiLeaks has made public Afghani informants that the U.S. Military depends on for support. They give that support based on the condition of their anonymity. One would presume that without our assurance of secrecy, we’d find our thirst for fresh Intel unquenched.
On the point of how “ethical journalism prevailed” in this case, one only needs to point to the history of harsh and barbaric treatment to Afghans who spy on the Taliban. I’m not sure how journalists can defend the ethicacy of putting innocent Afghans’ lives in such jeopardy.
It should not surprise anyone that SPJ is involved in damaging America’s war effort. Last year they trumpeted the New York Times’ old story revealing the NSA program of taping international calls made to the Middle East.
I’m the first person to stand up for a free press and a free flow of information. However, what we see here is yet another defense of a utopian open-society that many at SPJ would like to usher in. In this case and many others though, if America is the only one playing, we lose big time.
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