ThoughtCast: Is WikiLeaks' Julian Assange a hero, or a villain?

In this sixth installment of Faculty Insight, produced in partnership with Harvard University Extension School, ThoughtCast speaks with Allan Ryan, the director of intellectual property at Harvard Business School Publishing, a member of the American Bar Association's Committee on the First Amendment and Media Litigation, and an instructor at Harvard Extension School.
The subject is a sensitive one for journalists: Is Julian Assange one of us? Does WikiLeaks serve a legitimate news-gathering purpose, or is it a dangerous, possibly illegal website that spreads official secrets without due diligence or consideration of the consequences?
Let us know what you think!

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• al-Kuwaiti
• allan ryan
• Faculty Insight
• harvard
• harvard extension school
• jenny attiyeh
• journalism
• julian assange
• osama bin laden
• thoughtcast
• tora bora
• wikileaks

[thomkaufmann]

He says that Assange is not a journalist and Wikileaks is not a news organization but then goes on to say "...everybody with a computer is a blogger, a journalist...".

[jenattiyeh]

@thomkaufmann

Very acute observation! Too bad I didn't catch it in the interview! What do you think about Assange, and his role?

[peterlikesthis]

You're not aloud to make whistle-blow government atrocities, you end up in prison. Free Bradley Manning!

[bedfordgold]

@jenattiyeh An accurate but incomplete observation. The first reference was to the commercial characteristics of Assange's activity; the second was addressing the legal standing with regard to freedom of the press extending to everyone.

[javu04]

@thomkaufmann I think he is distinguishing between a journalist and a '"journalist" in the legal sense'. Meaning that Assange is only a source to the journalists/media and not a journalist himself, but still enjoys the same legal protection as any journalist would. In other words, he is explaining that in the eyes of the law everybody is a "journalist" and therefore enjoys the protection of the freedom of the press. If you get what i mean ;)

[nickst0ne]

This interview forgot to mention how Assange was labeled a terrorist by politicians and news organizations while Assange's discourse was totally muted in the media (the need for secrecy being much less than the actual secrecy, which has grown dramatically since Bush's administrations).

The revelations by Wikileaks drew an incredible picture of violations committed by the USA, but such an inconvenient truth gets him a political prosecution aimed at deporting him to USA and a threat to his life

[listen2meokidoki]

@jt55106 Grammar! Wikileaks is far better THAN Media. Not then. But there their they're, you're not the only one making this mistake. Also, Julian in prison WITHOUT real proof. Anyway, your sentiment is good. Thank God you have a constitution that protects Julian also. But the most important aspect of government is the independence of the judiciary. In Australia, where Julian derives, that independence is incredibly strong. I too would go to civil war to protect our courts.

[listen2meokidoki]

@thomkaufmann Oh My God! That's is exactly what I instantly thought. Very well put observation. This means that a Spade really is a Spade. A tool to dig holes held in one hand. On the other hand a Shovel is held in both hands to effectively use it. And so Julian is a Hero because all Journalist are heros. Even if they are also bastards because to err is to be human. And Julian is human. Computers are sources & Evil. But will civilisation outlast Computers? Or is this the begining of the end?

[russpears2009]

faculty insight? the only thing this interview proves is that this educational system is a mouthpiece for the system. this guy and the rest of this educational system have takiem sides with corruption only because they want their piece of the 850,000,000,000

[DCWhatthe]

Nice interview.