Wikileaks was created on the notion that people have the right to know information and express their own opinions. Wikileaks provides people with a forum that allows them to seek information that is otherwise unavailable to be accessed through traditional media sources.
They state that they have “sustained and triumphed aginst legal and political attacks designed to silence our publishing organisation, our journalists and our anonymous sources. The broader principles on which our work is based are the defence of freedom speech and media publishing, the improvement of our common historical record and the support of the rights of all people to create new history.” (Wikileaks, 2011).
As Wikileaks is a not for profit organisation, this means that they are the more objective news forum, as opposed to some mainstream forums that often publish news that satisfies their financial backers. Documents published from Wikileaks contain links to the original source, thus allowing the audience to analyse and come to their own conclusions regarding the topic in question. However, the organisation does have a ‘harm minimisation procedure’, which means that any information that could put people at risk can be hidden from the public or removed entirely from the site. Thus the question remains; can Wikileaks truly be labelled a transparent publication when they possess the ability to alter their information?
This video gives some insight into transparency and trust issues when it comes to Wikileaks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J32DWlI6keI
In conclusion, it is safe to say that there are some news stories posted by Wikileaks that are relevant and that society should know about, however, it is necessary that the public knows that Wikileaks should not be a replacement for mainstream media and the matter of their transparency is still in question.
References:
Wikileaks. (2011). Wikileaks. Retrieved September 8, 2011 from http://wikileaks.org/
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