Media Transparency
Warm-up
1. Do you think all information on the internet should be free?
2. Should anyone be able to access any type of information?
3. Should any information on the internet be kept secret (ex. government documents, military
plans, etc.)?
4. Is there a way to stop anyone from accessing certain types of information? Is this moral? Legal?
5. Who, if anyone, should be allowed to keep secrets online (ex. corporations, governments,
people)?
Reading
1. Have you ever heard of WikiLeaks?
2. If so, who are they? What do they do?
3. Read the passage below and discuss:
a) What is media transparency?
b) How are hackers and whistleblowers?
c) What do you think of WikiLeaks’ goal?
d) Do you think it is legal? Moral? Right?
e) If you had access to secret government information, would you send it to WikiLeaks?
WikiLeaks
Non-profit
WikiLeaks is an international, online, non-profit organisation which publishes secret
information, news leaks, and classified media from anonymous sources. Wikipedia
Founder: Julian Assange
Founded: 2006
Awards: Economist New Media Award
[Link]
In 2006, a new website appeared, called
[Link]. The goal of this website was to find
and distribute secret government, corporate and
military information to everyone in the world. Their
goal was media transparency. The sources of this
information are kept secret. These sources are
usually hackers or people with access to classified
(secret) information (whistleblowers). The group
has released a number of significant documents which have become front-page news items. In 2010,
WikiLeaks published video footage of the U.S. Army shooting and killing Afghani civilians, including
children, together with Routers journalists, whom they mistook for enemy troops. Later on WikiLeaks
also published many secret government documents. These documents contained correspondence
(emails, phone calls) between major world leaders and revealed many foreign policy plans of various
governments.
WikiLeaks controversy
Since their founding, WikiLeaks has been labeled a “terrorist organization” by mainstream media (large
newspapers and TV stations). Many governments have tried to shut down the website and arrest those
responsible for information leaks. This has caused a large debate about internet freedom with many
people protesting in defense of WikiLeaks, and many against. A military officer, Bradley Manning was
arrested for providing WikiLeaks with secret military information. He may be sentenced to life in jail
or the death penalty.
Speaking
1. Can you think of any points to support or being against wikileaks?
2. Are you pro or against it? Do you think WikiLeaks should stay online?
3. Would you read WikiLeaks to get information?
4. Do you think people who share secrets (illegally) should be sentenced to many years in
prison?
Reading
1. Do you know any current news about Wikileaks and its creator?
2. Read the following text from BBC and discuss:
a) Why was Julian Assange convicted?
b) How was he released this week? Where did he go?
c) Who was fundamental for his release?
d) According to his lawyer, why is it a problem that he declared himself guilty?
e) What other charges did Julian Assange face?
f) What is your opinion about all of this?
Julian Assange lands in Australia a free man
2 hours ago
By Tiffany Wertheimer, BBC News
Julian Assange has landed back home in his native Australia, after a plea deal allowed him to walk free
from a London prison. There were emotional scenes at Canberra Airport, as the Wikileaks founder kissed his
wife and hugged his father, his lawyers watching on, visibly moved. "Julian needs time to recover, to get
used to freedom," Stella Assange said at a news conference shortly after her husband arrived.
For the past 14 years, Assange has been in a legal battle with US officials who accused him of leaking
classified documents, which they say put lives in danger.
The 52-year-old did not attend the news conference in Canberra, instead letting his lawyer and wife
speak for him. "You have to understand what he's been through," Mrs Assange said, adding that they need
time to "let our family be a family". The couple married in London's Belmarsh prison in 2022, and have two
children together.
The plea deal saw Julian Assange plead guilty to one charge of conspiracy to obtain and disclose
national defence information, rather than the 18 he was originally facing.
The case centred around a massive Wikileaks disclosure in 2010 when the website released a video
from a US military helicopter which showed civilians being killed in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. It also
published thousands of confidential documents suggesting that the US military had killed hundreds of
civilians in unreported incidents during the war in Afghanistan.
The revelations became a huge story, prompting reaction from all corners of the globe, and led to
intense scrutiny of American involvement in foreign conflicts.
Assange formally entered the charge on the remote Northern Mariana Islands, an American territory in
the Pacific, two days after leaving Belmarsh prison. In return, he was sentenced to time already served and
released to fly home.
His lawyer, Jen Robinson, told media that the deal was "criminalisation of journalism" and set a
"dangerous precedent". Echoing this, Mrs Assange said she hopes the media "realise the danger of this US
case against Julian, that criminalises, that has secured his conviction for newsgathering and publishing
information that was true, that the public deserved to know".
His lawyer also gave details on a phone call between Assange and Australian Prime Minister Anthony
Albanese, who has been instrumental in securing his release. Assange told the prime minister that he "saved
his life", Ms Robinson said, adding: "I don't think that's an exaggeration". "This is a huge win that Australia
stood up to an ally and demanded the return of an Australian citizen," she said. Mr Albanese held his own
news conference on Wednesday, saying he is "very pleased" that the case is over, adding that the Wikileaks
founder has been through a "considerable ordeal". The PM has said in the past that he does not agree with
everything Assange has done, but "enough was enough" and it was time for him to be released, making the
case a priority. When asked whether the plea deal may affect US-Australia relations, he said: "We have a
very positive relationship with the United States. I regard President Biden as a friend, I regard their
relationship as being absolutely central."
The US State Department said its involvement with Assange's case had been very limited. It added that
the 52-year-old's actions had put the lives of US partners, allies and diplomats at risk, and that the Wikileaks
releases had "chilled" the ability of US diplomats to build relationships abroad.
Assange spent the last five years behind bars at London's high-security Belmarsh Prison, fighting US
attempts to extradite him to face charges over the document leaks.
In 2010, he faced separate charges of rape and sexual assault in Sweden, which he denied. He spent
seven years hiding in Ecuador's London embassy, claiming the Swedish case would lead him to be sent to the
US. Swedish authorities dropped that case in 2019 and said that too much time had passed since the original
complaint. Women's rights groups in Sweden say it is a shame he never faced official questioning over the
rape allegations. "It's a chapter of shame and betrayal that ends with his release," Clara Berglund, head of the
Swedish Women's Lobby, told Reuters news agency. "This is about a case that takes place on the major
political stages, and men's violence against women is given incredibly little weight."
Source: [Link]
Listening
1. What about social media? Do you think it is necessary to have transparency?
2. Do we have nowadays a regulation about social media?
3. Watch the following Ted Talk and discuss:
a) Is media influencer something new in our society?
b) Why can’t we say that the old medias had the same influence as social medias nowadays?
c) What are some problems of social media influencers shown by the speaker?
d) What kind of transparency is she talking about for social media influencers? Is it possible?
e) Do you agree with her
[Link]
