There are many news platforms that are contributing to the evolution of dispersing news and information through mass media outlets. However, we still face several issues in regards to how this news is being delivered, such as, fake news, overexertion of details, and the easiness of being able to spread news to others online whether or not you are a credible news source. WikiLeaks, a nonprofit news organization, practices a unique way of informing the public about news by allowing anonymous sources to send in tips in order to publish secret information, news leaks, and classified media to expose any wrongdoing in politics. It also does an extensive amount of research and background checks to make sure the information is accurate.
Many people today get their daily news from mainstream online news sites such as Yahoo, Google, Huffington Post, CNN, New York Times, Fox News and NBC News to name a few. The way these traditional news sources work is they report on anything and everything currently happening in our world to inform the public on things they feel that they should know. WikiLeaks has the same outlook as far as informing the public on matters they feel the public should be informed about, however this news is more about exposing wrongdoing and secrets that are kept and hidden by the government. WikiLeaks is responsible for famous leaks such as the Guantanamo Bay leaks, internal documents from the Church of Scientology, private emails from the email account of Sarah Palin, 500,000 messages sent during the 9/11 attacks, documents relating to the Afghanistan war and so much more, all to benefit the public good. They also allow others to send in submissions, whereas mainstream news outlets have a hired team of reporters and other staff members to do this for them. WikiLeaks uses high-level security technology and cryptographic information technologies to fully protect their source’s identity and the information sent. This type of technology and way of receiving information is part of what makes WikiLeaks so innovative in comparison to mainstream news outlets.
I think this is a unique way of disseminating information to the public. The citizens of this country have the right to know what their government is up to and this news source provides them with this information while limiting the amount of people that get hurt in the process due to their high-tech features.
References
About, wikileaks.org/10years/distorted-facts.html.
Axon, Samuel. “5 Innovative Websites That Could Reshape the News.” Mashable, Mashable, 18 May 2010, mashable.com/2010/05/18/innovative-news-websites/#f5T6aHeSfaqV.
Henriquez, Jaime. “10 Arguments for and against WikiLeaks.” TechRepublic, www.techrepublic.com/blog/10-things/10-arguments-for-and-against-wikileaks/.
“Journalism in the Doxing Era: Is Wikileaks Different from the New York Times?” Lawfare, 14 Nov. 2017, www.lawfareblog.com/journalism-doxing-era-wikileaks-different-new-york-times.
“Submit Documents to WikiLeaks.” About, wikileaks.org/About.html.