A so-called rival for the WikiLeaks site has been launched called ‘SafeHouse’. The SafeHouse organisation is similar to WikiLeaks in that it is a ‘whistle-blowing’ website, which publishes ‘online submissions to help uncover fraud and abuse in business and politics’ (Independent, 2011). The site also suggests that it follows similar file encryptions and/ or ‘the possibility for a contributor or whistleblower to remain anonymous’ (Independent, 2011), this is very similar to WikiLeaks itself.
WikiLeaks prides itself on its anonymous dropbox, which boasts ‘combined high-end security technologies with journalism and ethical principles’ (WikiLeaks, 2011). Robert Thomson, a journal managing editor for SafeHouse, said that; "SafeHouse will enable the collection of information and documents that could be used in the generation of trustworthy news stories" (Independent, 2011).
The site is clearly comparable to WikiLeaks, but whether it actually achieves similar success as WikiLeaks has remains to be seen. Having studied WikiLeaks for the past nine months this is the first time I have stumbled across any kind of rival for the site. However, even The New York Times have considered ‘the creation of a site for leakers’ (Independent, 2011), which shows just how much of an impact WikiLeaks has had on the media landscape.
An article which has remained with me since I began blogging states that; ‘the whistleblowing site has created a new media landscape’ (Guardian, 2011), which essentially means that the site has created a publishing trend that cannot be stopped. I believe this to be significant because it summarises the sheer scale and/or impact WikiLeaks has had on the media world.
Sites may try to imitate what it is that WikiLeaks has achieved, but they will always be the trend-setter, an organisation that cannot be tamed.
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