“Publishing improves transparency, and this transparency
creates a better society for all people. Better scrutiny leads to reduced
corruption and stronger democracies in all society’s institutions, including
government, corporations and other organisations” (Wikileaks 2006).
Founder of investigative journalism, I.F Stone (1990), believes
that “all governments lie.” There are many who question the reliability and
authenticity of their government and are curious to know what they are hiding.
Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks in 2006, gives the public a chance to see
what the government is deciding not to disclose to them.
The site has withstood many political and legal attacks that
have attempted to silence Assange and his anonymous sources. It has been able
to stay because it supports our right to freedom of speech. It is an
anti-corruption tool that helps the public see what happens behind the scenes,
away from the television and newspapers.
Whilst newspapers claim to write only the truth, you can’t
help but think if that is really true. Rupert Murdoch and News Corp, own so
much of Australia’s media that if the government were to pay them to write
something, it would reach a large portion of Australians. This way the
information is unbiased as the original stories are also published. This is the
main difference between Wikileaks and investigative journalism. There is no
reason for Wikileaks to be biased as it is not for profit, and has a simple
goal ‘to bring important news and information to the public.’
The war in Afghanistan is something that regular civilians
no little about, besides what the media tells them. In 2010, Wikileaks
published a horrifying video showing 15 people being killed by US army
soldiers, whilst they laughed, cursed and encouraged each other to keep
shooting. This is something that would not have been available to the public
without the leak and gives insight into the true nature of the US soldiers.
Another important story Wikileaks published in 2007, was an
insight to living conditions of prisoners at Camp Delta. The "Standard Operating Procedures for Camp Delta"
handbook for soldiers dealing with the prisoners was released showing that
prisoners were denied necessities such as access to the Red Cross and even
toilet paper. This allowed citizens to discover the cruel and inhumane
processes that their government is actually allowing.
As
many other publications would not be authorized to publish these sorts of
stories, it’s important for sites like Wikileaks to remain available to the public
as it allows them to help prevent government corruption.
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