WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks is the most challenging journalistic phenomenon to have emerged in the digital era. It has provoked anger and enthusiasm in equal measure, from across the political and journalistic spectrum. WikiLeaks poses a series of questions to the status quo in politics, journalism and to the ways we understand political communication. It has compromised the foreign policy operations of the most powerful state in the world, broken stories comparable to great historic scoops like the Pentagon Papers, and caused the mighty international news organizations to collaborate with this tiny editorial outfit. Yet it may also be on the verge of extinction. This is the first book to examine WikiLeaks fully and critically and its place in the contemporary news environment. The authors combine inside knowledge with the latest media research and analysis to argue that the significance of Wikileaks is that it is part of the shift in the nature of news to a network system that is contestable and unstable. Welcome to Wiki World and a new age of uncertainty.

WikiLeaks is the most challenging journalistic phenomenon to have emerged in the digital era. It has provoked anger and enthusiasm in equal measure, from across the political and journalistic spectrum.WikiLeaks poses a series of questions to the status quo in politics, journalism and to the ways we understand political communication. It has compromised the foreign policy operations of the most powerful state in the world, broken stories comparable to great historic scoops like the Pentagon Papers, and caused the mighty international news organizations to collaborate with this tiny editorial outfit. Yet it may also be on the verge of extinction.This is the first book to examine WikiLeaks fully and critically and its place in the contemporary news environment. The authors combine inside knowledge with the latest media research and analysis to argue that the significance of Wikileaks is that it is part of the shift in the nature of news to a network system that is contestable and unstable. Welcome to Wiki World and a new age of uncertainty.

Preface by Emily Bell viiIntroduction 11 What was new about WikiLeaks? 151.1 The creation of WikiLeaks 151.2 The challenge of WikiLeaks to alternative journalism 261.3 The challenge of WikiLeaks to mainstream media journalism321.4 The challenge of WikiLeaks to power 402 The greatest story ever told? The Afghan war logs, Iraq warlogs and the Embassy cables 462.1 Introduction 462.2 Collaboration and the Afghan war logs 482.3 The Iraq war logs: collaboration under stress 552.4 The cables and the legal attack 592.5 Rights, risks and responsibilities 672.6 The responsibility of journalism to avoid harm 692.7 Responsibility to tell the truth 722.8 Responsibility to hold power to account 752.9 Conclusion 833 WikiLeaks and the future of journalism 853.1 Introduction 853.2 WikiLeaks as part of the battle for the open Net 923.3 WikiLeaks as a model 1143.4 Hacktavism redux 1173.5 Advocacy NGO journalism 1203.6 Foundation and public journalism 1223.7 Mainstream whistle-blowers 1274 Social media as disruptive journalism: media, politics andnetwork effects 1304.1 Transparency and the network 1314.2 Social media as political communications: 'The Arab Spring'1354.3 WikiLeaks - what next? 1414.4 Conclusion: WikiLeaks, networked journalism and power147Epilogue 160Notes 165Bibliography 182Index 190