Category: NEWS

Julian Assange challenged the pillars of journalism more than any other person in recent times. He took the comfort out of information-gathering and went right to the edge. Journalists who relied on sources for information, by cosying up to people in power, were suddenly outed for cowardice and collusion. By leaking confidential government communications, without all the checks and balances which keep newsrooms safe, Assange and Wikileaks turned normal practice on its head.

 

For this, he spent years in hiding and in jail. Over time, the journalistic community forgot about him, except for occasional reports on his condition. But we have all benefitted from Wikileaks and Assange’s ideas of what journalism should be. We have had to recalibrate what governments can and cannot or should and should not keep secret. The details in the US State department cables which Wikileaks published had loads of gossip, straw opinions and comments rather than any explosive stuff. But it provided us with knowledge on how governments work and more importantly, it shared that with the world. In a sense, what Assange has tried to do is break the vows of importance with which governments cover themselves.

 

Many of us, even or especially in the mainstream media, are happy with status quo. We also like to worship at the altar of power so we bow down to government rules, government systems to protect themselves, to accepting the need for secrets in the upper echelons of “Government”. Wikileaks worked very well to break those myths and brought governments down to size.

 

That is why Assange was persecuted and jailed. He removed the veils which we, as a society, felt that Power was allowed. He also made us realise how mundane some secrets were, as well as how governments protected themselves from their own misdeamenours, how government agencies infiltrated operations in other countries, how torture was used against people of other nations by Western Democracies, how spyware was used to target sovereign nations. The Iraq War provided a treasure trove of information via Wikileaks.

 

Much of the information about then presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton using her private email id for public work also came via Assange. These leaks set up a whole other conversation about Assange, his political leanings and his methodology. There was also information about how the controversial firm, Cambridge Analytica which was accused of manipulating voters’ minds towards the far right and Donald Trump through social media, especially Facebook, had possibly worked with Assange.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jun/06/cambridge-analytica-brittany-kaiser-julian-assange-wikileaks

 

The US was a common target for Wikileaks, and thus it was the US which fought for his extradition. The fact that he is out on a plea deal is some measure of how the influence of Wikileaks has waned and possibly seen as less of a threat than it was before.

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/wikileaks-assange-expected-plead-guilty-us-espionage-charge-document-says-2024-06-24/

 

Controversial as Assange is, his use of data has triggered a new form of journalism within the mainstream media. Exposes like the Panama Papers are testament to collaborative journalism which uses massive data leaks on a global scale to highlight fraud and chicanery. The tools of journalism have also changed as a result.

 

To some Assange is still a hero; others may be hard-pressed to remember him and might have to go back to movies to find out!

 

But we owe him, either way. For changing our ways of working, understanding and respecting power, for better or for worse.

 

Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal.