You Can't Handle the Truth: A College Junior's Ramblings on WikiLeaks

Amanda Hagley
ah725510@ohio.edu

What do I think?

You can't handle the truth! That's what I sometimes think of individuals who criticize whistle-blowers and information leakers.  Although I will recognize the fact that certain information being publicly released can lead to conflicts involving national security and our country's safety, I'm conflicted because I also believe that our nation's citizens have the right to know about certain information and the things that our government is doing behind our backs.

Let's put it like this, everyone's seen the movie Mean Girls right?  Of course you have, it's pretty much a classic at this point.  At one point in the movie Regina George, popular queen bee, releases pages of the Burn Book to the entire school. This burn book was basically just a bunch of crude comments about other students at the school.  Although these girls may have believed that the hateful comments they wrote were not all true, it still created havoc throughout the entire school.  Okay, so maybe this isn't the most appropriate example because half of what was written was just petty high school drama, but you can see the comparison, right?

The question we have to ask ourselves is "What does the public really need to know, and whose responsibility is it to decide this in the name of protecting a nation?"

The Populars.

So where are these leaks coming from?  Why are they even taken into account?  I'll be honest and say that I had to do some research on this popular site called WikiLeaks that I kept hearing about prior to composing this blog.  Although I understood the basic idea, I couldn't honestly say that I was knowledgeable about how the whole thing actually functioned.

Here's a run down of how it works:

WikiLeaks is a non-profit organization that publishes secret and leaked information provided by completely anonymous sources. If you need more information than that you can check out Wikipedia's page on the topic if it so fancies you.  There have been several big cases of government information leaked through WikiLeaks including the popular news stories covering individuals like Bradley E. Manning and Edward Snowden, both of who are facing serious legal repercussions for their actions of releasing government information.

So were these men right in their actions of alerting the public of seemingly private government action? Although it may come as a shock, I don't know that I have a solid opinion on this topic for you.

Manning Left. Snowden Right.
Photo Courtesy of Media.Wired.It   

The Final Say.

The questions we have to take into account when deciding whether or not to publish released confidential information is whether or not the positives will really outweigh the negatives.  Maybe it's controversial that the government has been reading our emails, but are you willing to give up your sense of national security in order to find out about this occurrence and to maintain that right to privacy?

Was it necessary for Manning to release half a million government reports to the public at the expense of a possible threat to the country?  Maybe and maybe not.  I guess what it all comes down to is what you hold to be your highest concern:  the truth or your country's well-being.  

Journalists have a basic ethical guideline

Alexandra Newman
an077811@ohio.edu

After reading the SPJ, the RTDNA, the NPPA, the PRSA and several other organizations Codes of Ethics I feel like I know the four things that all journalists seem to be in agreement about that isn't that far out of normal human beliefs.

Truth:  Every Code of Ethics I read had some sort of section on truth. Many of them starting with the words "Seek the Truth." I think as journalism students that is really all we can do. We don't really have any other motives besides learning about how to be a journalist in the best way possible. So the chances of us not reporting the truth as students I don't think is very high. The excerpt I liked the best was, "Online journalists should uphold traditional high principles in reporting original news for the Internet and in reviewing and corroborating information from other sources" (Online News Association).

Bribes/being swayed: It was very interesting that all of the Codes of Ethics had something about not accepting gifts or payment to run a story or sway a certain way. I find this line more interesting as a student journalist and not as clear. When I am coming up with story ideas I ask my friends. If they are involved in something that I find interesting angle to take on I am more likely to do the story because I know someone involved in it. I think this could take a turn into something a little more biased, even if you're not getting paid or anything, just a unintentional favor to your friend. One of the excepts I liked the best for this example was, "Present analytical reporting based on professional perspective, not personal bias" (RTDNA).

Duty to the Public: It is quite evident that all of these organizations want to do what their doing in the public interest. More journalists would argue that this idea is the most important. As a student journalist I find this to be quite difficult. I would say about half of my peers read the campus publications for fun or personal interest. I think it is quite difficult to reach that other half of students that don't really care about reading about what the City of Athens talked about at their city council meeting last week. In a general sense though, that is what we are here for, the public, but when certain audiences don't really care about what's going on, it's hard to feel like you're accomplishing anything. The excerpt I liked the best was, "We serve the public interest by acting as responsible advocates for those we represent. We provide a voice in the marketplace of ideas, facts, and viewpoints to aid informed public debate" (PRSA).

Follow the law: I think this one kind of speaks for itself, but I think that it is important for the public to remember that journalists aren't above the law, they have the same access to certain documents as the public does. Journalists just have connections so they can get the information more quickly and can check its reliability. I am taking media law and media ethics at the same time, and I really am enjoying the overlap between the ideas that we discuss in both classes. An example of a code of ethics about following the law I liked was, "Advertisers should follow federal, state and local advertising laws, and cooperate with industry self-regulatory programs for the resolution of advertising practices" (Advertising Ethics).

I think it is important that we think of ethics as a guideline and not actual rules, but we understand the law is important in making ethical decisions. I think as a student journalist I am well on my way to being the best journalist possible, as long as I keep my personal values close. 
In conclusion I would like to share this short video with you because I think it is short, sweet and to the point about ethics.

                               
                                                   Video courtesy of YouTube.com.