Wikileaks has been accused of having blood on it's hands after publishing 91,000 classified documents. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen said,
"Mr. Assange can say whatever he likes about the greater good he think he and his source are doing, but the truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family," For the last few days critics of Wikileaks have said Afghan lives could be in danger because they've been included in the documents the names of civilians who have cooperated with international forces.
Today the Taliban has said it's going to hunt out the wikileaks informers and behead them.
The President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, has described it as 'shocking and irresponsible'.
Similarly the US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has called the leak "severe and dangerous for our troops, our allies and Afghan partners".
And a Pentagon spokeperson says someone named in the documents has already complained to US officials in Afghanistan.
But Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, has defended publishing the documents:
"...if we were forced into a position of publishing all of the archives or none of the archives we would publish all of the archives because it's extremely important to the history of the war." An editorial in the Times newspaper argues that established news organisations would not have published the leaks in full and that Wikileaks should have waited until they'd checked all names had been removed before publishing.
Anne Applebaum writing in the Washington Post thinks the internet is no match for the mainstream media.
Is new journalism a force for justice? Or is this just irresponsible journalism?
Your comments
Comment sent via host
18:58
113631290
Thanks so much for your calls and texts on the show today. See you Monday!
Comment sent via Facebook
18:56
113631290
Bismark Miroslav Omari - wyclef thinks rapping has something to do with presidency - those who likes his music in the whole world is less and he must know that haiti is a big country
Comment sent via Facebook
18:53
113631290
Mwiingahimovic Ba Look at countries like Madagascar with a Dj as a president. Maybe he might just be the answer
Comment sent via Facebook
18:50
113631290
Stanley Atonya - Not really. Politics is totally a whole different ball game altogether. Most celebrities are detached frm real issues tht afflict an ordinary joe on the streets lk unemployment, poor sanitation & hunger
Comment sent via Facebook
18:48
113631290
Issa Mwamba Wa'Fatma - Wycleaf Jean is no way ready material for presidential post.... Remember George Weah in Liberia? Celebs got unbeatable popularity yet not good enough to make better politicians, Politics is something more than 'just' FAME.
Comment sent via Facebook
18:48
113631290
Jeanbosco Anguzu - Yes they can make good politicians if they work to gain cheap popularity while in apolitical officie as they do to gain celebrity status
Comment sent via Facebook
18:38
113631290
Whitney Brown - Well I think HW was running the show all along so I don't think Reagan had much to do with it. His illness was apparent from the beginning of his presidency. But I still ike what you said about him being B grade. F grade as Prez.
Comment sent via Facebook
18:35
113631290
Dee Kieft What is the meaning of celebrity now? Are you refering to talented-actors/musicans or the talentless reality show contestants who'll sell their soul for money. Can you distingush the difference?
Comment sent via Facebook
18:34
113631290
Hooman Bahrani - I would rather him be a consultant than president . Seems so hard to fight the system of corruption of politics. That way he could maintain being a good guy.
Comment sent via Facebook
18:34
113631290
Siraj Mohamed - Ronald Reagan made 1 bad president, with iran, contra scandal as standing out as the worst! His credentials as a Hollywood star catapulted hm to presidency!
Comment sent via host
18:33
113631290
Would you like a celebrity governing where you live?
Comment sent via Facebook
18:33
113631290
James Kitcher - Fame will facilitate his electoral victory but there are some question marks as to his performance.
Comment sent via host
18:29
113631290
That''s it for our discussion on new journalism - now we''re going to talk Wyclif Jean''s bid for the Haitian Presidency and whether celebrities should go into politics
Comment sent via Facebook
18:28
113631290
William Moiwo Jimmie - Honestly these are some of the reasons the west is never free from troubles. Christ! This is crazy. Putting other people in danger all in the name of journalism
Comment sent via Facebook
18:26
113631290
Robert Haver I don't fault Wikileaks nearly as much as I fault the Government for allowing a leak in the first place. This isn't a plumbing site, it's a site dedicated to the sole purpose of what happened.
Comment sent via Facebook
18:26
113631290
Nengak Daniel - luckily i never went to wikileaks and wont ever visit them. journalism at its worst
Comment sent via Facebook
18:25
113631290
Ivan Kiplimo Kiplimo - they are trying to be responsible for their actions. human lives are involved here and like always the truth doesn't help
Comment sent via YOURSAY
18:25
113631290
Jasp John, China - Journalism has been infiltrated by fanatics who hide under freedom of expression to harm relationship, religion person or even government, they should be ignored and regard them as irresponsible
Comment sent via YOURSAY
18:18
113631290
This is not a case of "old press" standards vs "new media" standards. Remember the role the New York Times played in passing on false information on weapons of mass destruction?
Comment sent via Facebook
18:14
113631290
Richard Gaskin A big Up for Wikileaks , without there HONEST reporting we would not be aware of the Atrocities going on out there or anywhere else in the world
Comment sent via YOURSAY
18:12
113631290
They are creating the possibility or retribution against not only the US and it's allies, but also the people who helped who are of foreign decent. This new type of journalism is "sensational journalism" which I equate to reality television.
Comment sent via YOURSAY
18:11
113631290
Call me old fashioned, but I absolutely despise the new media. The publishing of those documents by Wikileaks was irresponsible and should have never happened
Comment sent via YOURSAY
18:11
113631290
Yes, Wikileaks is taking up a responsibility we should be grateful they've taken. The charges that they may be endangering lives is, for the most part, exactly backward. Citizens of the US, for example, should think about what it means that we fund the Pakistani ISI and they fund the Taliban, which kills American and allied soldiers and Afghan civilians alike
Comment sent via Facebook
18:10
113631290
I don't think it's really journalism. Wikileaks isn't reporting anything. It's more like if someone printed out a bunch of documents and left them in Central Park
Comment sent via host
18:04
113631290
Good day. We''re about to kick off a show of two halves - to begin with, talking about the Wikileaks story and the Pentagon saying that they may already have blood on their hands. Is ''new'' journalism bad journalism? And then we will look at Wyclef Jean''s bid to become Haitian president. Do we need more celebrities in politics?
Is 'new' journalism irresponsible journalism?
| Friday, 7 July 2010 | 18:00 - 19:00 GMT
Wikileaks has been accused of having blood on it's hands after publishing 91,000 classified documents. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen said,
"Mr. Assange can say whatever he likes about the greater good he think he and his source are doing, but the truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family,"
For the last few days critics of Wikileaks have said Afghan lives could be in danger because they've been included in the documents the names of civilians who have cooperated with international forces.
Today the Taliban has said it's going to hunt out the wikileaks informers and behead them.
The President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, has described it as 'shocking and irresponsible'.
Similarly the US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has called the leak "severe and dangerous for our troops, our allies and Afghan partners".
And a Pentagon spokeperson says someone named in the documents has already complained to US officials in Afghanistan.
But Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, has defended publishing the documents:
"...if we were forced into a position of publishing all of the archives or none of the archives we would publish all of the archives because it's extremely important to the history of the war."
An editorial in the Times newspaper argues that established news organisations would not have published the leaks in full and that Wikileaks should have waited until they'd checked all names had been removed before publishing.
Anne Applebaum writing in the Washington Post thinks the internet is no match for the mainstream media.
Is new journalism a force for justice? Or is this just irresponsible journalism?
Your comments
Comment sent via host
Thanks so much for your calls and texts on the show today. See you Monday!
Comment sent via Facebook
Bismark Miroslav Omari - wyclef thinks rapping has something to do with presidency - those who likes his music in the whole world is less and he must know that haiti is a big country
Comment sent via Facebook
Mwiingahimovic Ba Look at countries like Madagascar with a Dj as a president. Maybe he might just be the answer
Comment sent via Facebook
Stanley Atonya - Not really. Politics is totally a whole different ball game altogether. Most celebrities are detached frm real issues tht afflict an ordinary joe on the streets lk unemployment, poor sanitation & hunger
Comment sent via Facebook
Issa Mwamba Wa'Fatma - Wycleaf Jean is no way ready material for presidential post.... Remember George Weah in Liberia? Celebs got unbeatable popularity yet not good enough to make better politicians, Politics is something more than 'just' FAME.
Comment sent via Facebook
Jeanbosco Anguzu - Yes they can make good politicians if they work to gain cheap popularity while in apolitical officie as they do to gain celebrity status
Comment sent via Facebook
Whitney Brown - Well I think HW was running the show all along so I don't think Reagan had much to do with it. His illness was apparent from the beginning of his presidency. But I still ike what you said about him being B grade. F grade as Prez.
Comment sent via Facebook
Dee Kieft What is the meaning of celebrity now? Are you refering to talented-actors/musicans or the talentless reality show contestants who'll sell their soul for money. Can you distingush the difference?
Comment sent via Facebook
Hooman Bahrani - I would rather him be a consultant than president . Seems so hard to fight the system of corruption of politics. That way he could maintain being a good guy.
Comment sent via Facebook
Siraj Mohamed - Ronald Reagan made 1 bad president, with iran, contra scandal as standing out as the worst! His credentials as a Hollywood star catapulted hm to presidency!
Comment sent via host
Would you like a celebrity governing where you live?
Comment sent via Facebook
James Kitcher - Fame will facilitate his electoral victory but there are some question marks as to his performance.
Comment sent via host
That''s it for our discussion on new journalism - now we''re going to talk Wyclif Jean''s bid for the Haitian Presidency and whether celebrities should go into politics
Comment sent via Facebook
William Moiwo Jimmie - Honestly these are some of the reasons the west is never free from troubles. Christ! This is crazy. Putting other people in danger all in the name of journalism
Comment sent via Facebook
Robert Haver I don't fault Wikileaks nearly as much as I fault the Government for allowing a leak in the first place. This isn't a plumbing site, it's a site dedicated to the sole purpose of what happened.
Comment sent via Facebook
Nengak Daniel - luckily i never went to wikileaks and wont ever visit them. journalism at its worst
Comment sent via Facebook
Ivan Kiplimo Kiplimo - they are trying to be responsible for their actions. human lives are involved here and like always the truth doesn't help
Comment sent via YOURSAY
Jasp John, China - Journalism has been infiltrated by fanatics who hide under freedom of expression to harm relationship, religion person or even government, they should be ignored and regard them as irresponsible
Comment sent via YOURSAY
This is not a case of "old press" standards vs "new media" standards. Remember the role the New York Times played in passing on false information on weapons of mass destruction?
Comment sent via Facebook
Richard Gaskin A big Up for Wikileaks , without there HONEST reporting we would not be aware of the Atrocities going on out there or anywhere else in the world
Comment sent via YOURSAY
They are creating the possibility or retribution against not only the US and it's allies, but also the people who helped who are of foreign decent. This new type of journalism is "sensational journalism" which I equate to reality television.
Comment sent via YOURSAY
Call me old fashioned, but I absolutely despise the new media. The publishing of those documents by Wikileaks was irresponsible and should have never happened
Comment sent via YOURSAY
Yes, Wikileaks is taking up a responsibility we should be grateful they've taken. The charges that they may be endangering lives is, for the most part, exactly backward. Citizens of the US, for example, should think about what it means that we fund the Pakistani ISI and they fund the Taliban, which kills American and allied soldiers and Afghan civilians alike
Comment sent via Facebook
I don't think it's really journalism. Wikileaks isn't reporting anything. It's more like if someone printed out a bunch of documents and left them in Central Park
Comment sent via host
Good day. We''re about to kick off a show of two halves - to begin with, talking about the Wikileaks story and the Pentagon saying that they may already have blood on their hands. Is ''new'' journalism bad journalism? And then we will look at Wyclef Jean''s bid to become Haitian president. Do we need more celebrities in politics?