Assange Is Free, But US Spite Will Chill Reporting for Years
The deal shows how eager the US government is to both save face and remain a threatening force against investigative reporters.
Chip Gibbons on the Right to Protest
US journalists invoke the First Amendment a lot, but not so much when it extends to regular folks saying NO to the US government.
Key Assange Witness Recants—With Zero Corporate Media Coverage
A key witness against Julian Assange has recanted his testimony, but this blow to the US case has received zero media coverage.
Corporate Media Have Second Thoughts About Exiling Julian Assange From Journalism
Through their efforts to discredit Assange and WikiLeaks, corporate media have snugly aligned themselves with the contemporary brokers of US imperial power against a journalistic movement that, over the last decade, has presented them with their most significant challenge.
Media Cheer Assange’s Arrest
Whatever your view of Assange might be, it seems clear he shares virtually nothing in common with those in positions of influence in big media outlets, who have been only too happy to watch his demise.
Assange’s ‘Conspiracy’ to Expose War Crimes Has Already Been Punished
Assange has already been arbitrarily detained for several years, according to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Now Assange could be punished even more brutally if the UK extradites him to the US.
Misreporting Manafort: A Case Study in Journalistic Malpractice
A piece that started as a factual news report was transformed into an allegation—after it went viral and was picked up across international media.
WaPo’s Factcheck of WikiLeaks Highlights Paper’s Strange View of Facts
The problem is that the Washington Post’s “Fact Checker” column is often not in the business of checking facts, but instead offers its own judgements and opinions under the imprimatur of factchecking.
Meet the Press Grills WikiLeaks on Source, Ignores Substance of DNC Emails
Meet the Press’s Chuck Todd asked WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange a total of eight questions, all of which were about alleged foreign hacking of the DNC, never asking about the substance of the leaks.
Panama Papers’ Publishers Don’t Need to Sell Out WikiLeaks
In this moment of well-earned glory, why would the primary party responsible for the Panama Papers go out of its way to take a swipe at WikiLeaks, and, by extension, a prisoner of conscience?
Muzzling Critics—or Building Media Democracy?
Ecuador’s media law represents something more complex than an attempt to bully critics. The Organic Communications Law attempts to treat the news media like a public good or service, with regulations intended to benefit citizens. It calls on each outlet to develop a code of ethics, calls for swift correction of errors, and requires national outlets to have ombudsmen to deal with public complaints.
The Snowden Psychiatric Smear
Attacking Edward Snowden’s character with an amateur understanding of mental health medicine not only distracts from the the secret mass surveillance of U.S. citizens, it also further marginalizes an already highly stigmatized portion of our society.
Did NYT Tarnish ‘Journalistic Reputation’ of WikiLeaks?
The New York Times reports that Wikileaks’ “journalistic reputation was…undercut by two prominent articles published by the New York Times.” But if anyone’s journalistic reputation was hurt by those articles, it was the Times’.
Washington Post’s WikiLeaks/Snowden/Greenwald Conspiracy Theory
To Washington Post columnist Walter Pincus, something about NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden just doesn’t smell right. Lucky for him he gets space in a prestigious newspaper to work out his hunch–apparently without any editors or factcheckers to get in his way.
Washington Post: Let’s Punish Ecuador (Again)
The Washington Post, clearly missing its old left-wing Latin American target, sneers that “replacing the deceased Hugo Chavez as the hemisphere’s preeminent anti-U.S. demagogue” is Correa’s mission.
Edward Snowden and the State-Identified Journalist
Snowden, in Marshall’s view, is the kind of leaker who belongs in prison: “I do not see how you can’t prosecute Snowden.” For Marshall and other journalists who fundamentally identify with the state, it’s OK to help journalists to debate surveillance policy—it’s just not OK to try to change it.
Fox News ‘Liberal’ Isn’t So Sure About College Rape
In most places, a record like Bob Beckel would probably lead your employer to tell you to take your act elsewhere. But if you’re running a right-wing propaganda network, he’s a pretty valuable “leftist” to keep around.
Julian Assange, Erin Burnett and the Battle Over Press Freedom
There seems to be an expectation in the Assange case that a dissident must take refuge with a government with a sterling human rights record. This message is conveyed by journalists whose own country has detained, harassed and killed their journalistic colleagues.
Assange’s ‘Nut Job’ Portrayal Says More About Portrayers
Portraying Assange a ‘nut job’ says little about Julian Assange–and plenty about the corporate media.
NYT and the Julian Assange Smear Campaign
You get an impression from the headline and thrust of the Times piece that would lead you to believe that Assange consorts with anti-Semitic Holocaust deniers, gets angry when they are exposed as such and alleges that a Jewish conspiracy is out to get him.
