Jay Rosen, in a disjointed bunch of notes about the Wikileaks bombshell, brings up some intriguing points. Beyond the usual questions of American politics raised by the release, Wikileaks, he argues, is something truly new: a stateless news organization. It’s a fascinating point:
Appealing to national traditions of fair play in the conduct of news reporting misunderstands what Wikileaks is about: the release of information without regard for national interest. In media history up to now, the press is free to report on what the powerful wish to keep secret because the laws of a given nation protect it. But Wikileaks is able to report on what the powerful wish to keep secret because the logic of the Internet permits it. This is new. Just as the Internet has no terrestrial address or central office, neither does Wikileaks.
In an era in which governmental transparency is a quaint notion and corporations (unbound by laws regarding transparency) are an integral part of national military efforts, Wikileaks has certainly broken new ground in forced accountability. They are truly changing the rules of the game. It’s an impressive thing to have done, whether you agree with their viewpoint or not.
