For a person who fights tooth and nail against the government’s lack of transparency, Julian Assange is a very opaque person. His personal life aside, he is highly secretive about the way he goes about his method of journalism. He does not reveal any sources, either financial or otherwise.
One might argue that he is not required to answer any questions. But his method of journalism raises several questions. If his sources are secretive how does one determine if these secret whistle-blowers are not pursuing an agenda of their own? Therefore how does one determine if the leaks are objective or cherry-picked information to fill in the frame of a desired picture?
Where does his funding coming from? Does Wiki-Leaks have any agenda?
How do we know that Assange is just a good Samaritan and not a hired gun anyone can hire to destroy their enemies in this age when fragmented, sensationalist information is power.
Even if all the above questions are answered correctly, the risks of such websites are still very high for any society. It’s only a matter of time, before a powerful entity or an individual or a group of individuals would find a creative way to use Wiki-Leaks or a similar website to spread misinformation to maim or malign people they want to destroy.
This will only take the shadow war of information and image-management politics waged among political parties and corporations to the next level.
This is why shrouded-in-secrecy method of journalism is harmful for any functioning society.
LM Expressions 