WikiLeaks is the most challenging journalistic phenomenon to have emerged in the digital era. It has provoked anger and enthusiasm in equal measure, from across the political and journalistic spectrum.
WikiLeaks poses a series of questions to the status quo in politics, journalism and to the ways we understand political communication. It has compromised the foreign policy operations of the most powerful state in the world, broken stories comparable to great historic scoops like the Pentagon Papers, and caused the mighty international news organizations to collaborate with this tiny editorial outfit. Yet it may also be on the verge of extinction.
This is the first book to examine WikiLeaks fully and critically and its place in the contemporary news environment. The authors combine inside knowledge with the latest media research and analysis to argue that the significance of Wikileaks is that it is part of the shift in the nature of news to a network system that is contestable and unstable. Welcome to Wiki World and a new age of uncertainty.
By:
Charlie Beckett (London School of Economics UK)
With:
James Ball
Imprint: Wiley
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 209mm,
Width: 140mm,
Spine: 16mm
Weight: 263g
ISBN: 9780745659763
ISBN 10: 0745659764
Pages: 180
Publication Date: 06 January 2012
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Preface by Emily Bell vii Introduction 1 1 What was new about WikiLeaks? 15 1.1 The creation of WikiLeaks 15 1.2 The challenge of WikiLeaks to alternative journalism 26 1.3 The challenge of WikiLeaks to mainstream media journalism 32 1.4 The challenge of WikiLeaks to power 40 2 The greatest story ever told? The Afghan war logs, Iraq war logs and the Embassy cables 46 2.1 Introduction 46 2.2 Collaboration and the Afghan war logs 48 2.3 The Iraq war logs: collaboration under stress 55 2.4 The cables and the legal attack 59 2.5 Rights, risks and responsibilities 67 2.6 The responsibility of journalism to avoid harm 69 2.7 Responsibility to tell the truth 72 2.8 Responsibility to hold power to account 75 2.9 Conclusion 83 3 WikiLeaks and the future of journalism 85 3.1 Introduction 85 3.2 WikiLeaks as part of the battle for the open Net 92 3.3 WikiLeaks as a model 114 3.4 Hacktavism redux 117 3.5 Advocacy NGO journalism 120 3.6 Foundation and public journalism 122 3.7 Mainstream whistle-blowers 127 4 Social media as disruptive journalism: media, politics and network effects 130 4.1 Transparency and the network 131 4.2 Social media as political communications: 'The Arab Spring' 135 4.3 WikiLeaks – what next? 141 4.4 Conclusion: WikiLeaks, networked journalism and power 147 Epilogue 160 Notes 165 Bibliography 182 Index 190
Reviews for WikiLeaks: News in the Networked Era
A well-written and interesting account of WikiLeaks history Discourse and Communication An incisive overview of the Wikileaks saga and itsimplications. The Age An excellent systematic documentation on the history ofWikiLeaks and the controversial role of the founder. Digital Journalism Would be an excellent text to assign in courses on journalism. Itcomes highly recommended, since it is full of insight, is easy tonavigate and makes compelling arguments. Central European Journal of International and SecurityStudies A cool-headed, astute analysis of the social, political andtechnological context in which the now infamous website wasformed. Engineering and Technology This excellent study is a fascinating insight into WikiLeaks andis the first bookt o examine this new phenomenon of the age. Orange Standard In this terrific book, Charlie Beckett with James Ball weave thedisparate threads of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks - the future ofjournalism, of statecraft, of secrecy - into a readable andcompelling narrative. Essential for anyone interested in the futureof free speech or global politics. Clay Shirky, New York University A fascinating insight into Wikileaks, and what its version oftransparency means for the ethics, focus and newly emerging formsof journalism in our time. Beckett and Ball have produced a bookthat combines timeliness with significance in its examination ofthe implications of Wikileaks for journalism. David A L Levy, University of Oxford Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand one of thebiggest revolutions for journalism, whistleblowing and freedom ofinformation. Jo Glanville, Editor, Index on Censorship
