In the past week WikiLeaks has suffered much criticism for the gagging order put in place to ensure confidentiality within the organisation. This has lead to condemnation from the press, who have suggested that WikiLeaks claims to be in favour of media transparency, but by ‘gagging’ their employees does this mean they are just as secretive as the government?
Among the recent bad press something quite significant has also happened for the site this week. Julian Assange has been given a ‘peace award for exceptional courage in pursuit of human rights’ (Guardian, 2011). It is undeniable that Julian’s achievements are quite remarkable; this is obviously mirrored through his award. Julian was said to be praised for "challenging centuries-old practices of government secrecy and by championing people's right to know" (Guardian, 2011). Again, this draws upon ideas of media transparency, something which WikiLeaks, supposedly, holds in very high regards.
The Guardian article describes how successful the organisation has been, even outlining some of its achievements (positive and negative);
‘WikiLeaks caused a media and diplomatic uproar late last year when it began to publish its cache of more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables, revealing secrets such as that Saudi leaders had urged US military action against Iran. Some US politicians said WikiLeaks should be defined as an international terrorist organisation’ (Guardian, 2011)
This shows the sheer scale of WikiLeaks and its accomplishments, as well as how US governments have defined the organisation. It is quite obvious that politicians would be set against the site and its aims because it is exposing their confidential files. Rather interestingly, the article ends with Assange’s definition of the sites triumphs, claiming that; ‘publication of the cables helped shape uprisings in north Africa and the Middle East and said WikiLeaks was on the side of justice’ (Guardian, 2011).
I believe it is increasingly important to read about what WikiLeaks has accomplished rather than what it has not. The site is something so unique that it is constantly under pressure from the government and media, which is often reflected in the press.
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