Who’s right and who's wrong?

Jade Garcia
jg489111@ohio.edu

We have to wonder sometime as journalists and consumers of the media, why do some journalists get away with leaking classified documents and secrets and others do not? What keeps some people from coming out un-harmed time after time again while others receive the max penalty for their first offense?

The answer is not clear cut nor is it easily attainable but there is much speculation to be made. For me I personally feel that it has to do with the severity and level of restriction placed on the leaked information. For example, the bigger the secret the bigger the punishment and the smaller the secret the less severe the punishment. Then again, wouldn’t any story being considered a leek be classified information and warrant some type of punishment no matter the magnitude of the story. It seems like a logical formula but there are still those who slip through the cracks and come out untouched even though they have single handily managed to send the government into a frenzy.

We saw it with Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden, two men who believed that the public’s rights to classified information outweighed the punishments they would receive in turn. Why is it that two men who sought to do the most good for the most amount of people are now hiding in other countries and locked away when people like Julian Assange and others alike aren’t receiving any kind of punishment for their actions. Instead these people and organizations are receiving business and making allies with big name media and news publications.

 It baffles me to even think that people like Julian Assange are still getting away with providing government secrets to the general public and being able to wipe their hands clean at the end of the day. Is it his tactics alone that are keeping him and Wikileaks in the clear or is there something that I’m missing that allows some to do what others cannot?

I don’t think we will ever receive a clear answer as to why there are still journalists out there who have knowingly and publicly broken the law repeatedly and have not felt the back hand. I’m sure that many people would back Wikileaks and people like Julian Assange, for he provides the public with information that we find intrudes on our personal life and brings to light the deep dark secrets of the government we trust, but what about those who played the same game and lost everything? Maybe their motives and intentions where to do the most good while those who are still running rampant only mean to undermine the government and cause more trouble rather than do good for the public. Don't those type of people deserve to feel what breaking the law is like and take responsibility for their actions instead of hiding behind others in attempt to prolong the inevitable?