Whistle While You Work

Where do we draw the line with the publication of confidential documents?

If a government wants to keep something secret, can we let them as journalists? Or is this very action anti-democracy?

I will start off by discussing whether or not it is alright for the media to publish confidential government documents stolen by a whistleblower. In my opinion, the publication of government documents that directly affects the lives of the people that voted the government in is an essential part to democracy. Who is the government to keep secrets from the people? If it is a matter of security, then I can understand. But when there is no threat to the people, secrets should become known.

As journalists have a duty to report the news and to inform the people, this is simple. If they have information, they must let the public know. Otherwise, what separates us from a dictatorship? Democracy is of the people, for the people, by the people, as Lincoln said it. The media has an obligation to inform the people of what is happening in the world and in their government. It has a duty to inform the public.

The view point that I take is that the media is a part of the public, and therefore, must let the public know what is going on. Government secrets or not, the public has a right to know how it's country is being run. Like I said before, this is a democracy... it is the people that run the country, not one man, with a handful of secrets.

But enough of that rant.

Whistleblowing causes quite a large amount of stress in government. With Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, the government considered him to be 'The Most Dangerous Man in America'. This being 1971, during the Vietnam War, many viewed him as a hero, much the same as some view Bradley Manning, the 23 year old Army Private that leaked hundreds of thousands of secret military and State Department documents and gave it to WikiLeaks.

Both men have many similarities. Both were willing to go to prison. Both had the nerve to do something they knew wouldn't go over well with the authorities. And it's possible that Manning may very well do just what Ellsberg did; show the war for what it really is.

Ellsberg showed the American Public that the Vietnam War was an unwinnable quagmire, and that many presidents knew about this. He showed that they had lied to Congress and the public. He showed that the killing of young men on the front lines was for nothing more than to save face.

Manning is suspected of leaking the Apache gunship helicopter video, which showed the army firing on unarmed civilians in Iraq, as well as leaking the Afghan War Diary. These documents showed the grim realities of the Iraq War, quite unlike the picture being painted by the U.S. Government.

In a sense, they are one in the same, just in different wars. This leads to Ellsberg saying 'I was Bradley Manning' to be seen as something very realistic.

Go and watch The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers , and think about it. 

Read more about Manning here.
Read more about Ellsberg here.