Do newspapers, news programs, magazines and all the other old media need WikiLeaks?
The NationThe Wall Street Journal recently launched their new WikiLeaks-imitation website, SafeHouse. The reception of the new venture has been lukewarm at best, with critics focusing on the site’s lack of basic security as its most major flaw. At the 2011 National Conference for Media Reform in Boston, Greg Mitchell, who has been blogging the WikiLeaks story for The Nation for over one hundred and fifty days now, spoke with Nation intern Kevin Gosztola about the way old media sites are trying to catch up to WikiLeaks.
Free speech, traditional media versus new media, transparency versus secrecy and who will be the “gatekeepers" are some of the most pressing issues that stem from WikiLeaks’ operations, Mitchell argues. The fact that even the New York Times relies on WikiLeaks for a steady stream of headlines, Mitchell says, shows how important the leaks organization’s information has become to the traditional media.
For the latest on WikiLeaks, check out Greg Mitchell’s MediaFix blog.
The NationTwitterFounded by abolitionists in 1865, The Nation has chronicled the breadth and depth of political and cultural life, from the debut of the telegraph to the rise of Twitter, serving as a critical, independent, and progressive voice in American journalism.