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As Assange walks free, multifaceted threats to journalism and the truth are bigger than ever
- Julian Assange’s case shows the danger of journalists being ensnared in legal entanglements when they do not play the power game
The now famous Collateral Murder video released by WikiLeaks showing the US army shooting civilians, including children, in Baghdad and laughing about it was very difficult viewing.
As Assange stepped onto Australian soil on Wednesday night a free man, having suffered for serving the basic democratic tenet of free speech and public interest, several things stand out, and they all do one thing – threaten journalism.
![WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (centre) hugs his wife Stella Assange after arriving at Canberra Airport in Australia on Wednesday. Photo: AFP](https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/06/27/194329eb-6ac7-4448-bff8-20cb3a5ba94c_8682dcb2.jpg)
The plea deal that Assange signed to be free was no justice. It made him a criminal and set a possible dangerous precedent that if anyone exposed the crimes of the US government, they would be punished.
Journalists have long contended with authoritarian states which bully and kill them, but now we too have to worry about democratic states that ensnare journalists in legal entanglements.
That this saga has lasted this long is in itself a threat to journalists. It may be “rules-based” but its substantial outcome is no different from persecutions of journalists all over the world.
It is also no justice that no one in Washington has been charged with the murders and abuse of civilians that Assange’s WikiLeaks exposed. Focusing on Assange’s crime is a smokescreen for Washington’s wrongdoings.
Then, there are threats to journalism from within the profession.
Some journalists – and politicians – argued Assange did not follow the accepted methods of the craft, particularly in redacting names in the leaks he published, and was therefore reckless. They also called him narcissistic, vain and divisive.
Journalist Antony Loewenstein, however, said on Australian TV on Wednesday that it came down to this: “Julian wasn’t playing the game – the game that so many journalists play, of being close to power.”
Indeed, Assange had refused to play footsie with those in power, a technique that many journalists have adopted to a point that it has its own name: “access journalism”.
While being close to power could be good for scoops, it blurs the lines of journalistic independence. The dangerous result is the publishing of propaganda rather than news.
Assange also did things differently, drawing out jealousy and fear among mainstream journalists, who ironically would have done the same had they been in his shoes.
Having been on the same receiving end, surely doing things differently must add value to journalism? Experience tells me that following the crowd can mean missing important stories and essential evidence.
![War crimes whistle-blower David McBride arrives for sentencing at the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory in Canberra, Australia, on May 14. Photo: EPA-EFE](https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/06/27/e11b2cfa-15ea-47d6-a768-944f9c264cb0_741ac6ff.jpg)
And as one man who fought for the truth starts a new life, other whistle-blowers are locked up or being pursued.
The threats to journalism are bigger than ever.
But now is not the time for journalists to be silent, nor is it time to cow to those threats. They are in fact our cue to fire up even more.
Borrowing from a popular quote, “in a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is not only revolutionary, it is absolutely necessary”.
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