Sunday, August 1, 2010

10. Media Ethics/Media Law

A story that has been in the news a lot lately is the leaking of 92,000 classified documents about the Afghan war to Wikileaks.org, which in turn were made available to three newspapers (the New York Times, The Guardian, and Der Spiegel). There are several ethical and legal issues that are being discussed in relation to the case. For example, Steven Aftergood, an "anti-censorship leader" has accused the site of having a disregard for the privacy of individuals (as well as the law) in pursuit of news-worthy-ness. The New York Times felt protected under the first amendment's freedom of press, but talks about how they still struggled over what to publish (balancing right of public to know vs. prior censoring material that could "harm national security interests").

The story also brings up legal and ethical issues arising out of the global nature of the internet. Wikileaks operates its servers in several countries (including Belgium and Sweden) to seek greater protection against legal action. It has refused to reveal the name of its source (shield laws). Nonetheless, the Justice Department (presumably with support of the defense secretary) is seeking to charge Wikileaks under anti-episonage law.

*Another article claims the lukewarm reaction to this story has to do with the information overload provided (also pertaining to the new "rules" of electronic journalism).

2 comments:

  1. 1.
    thị trấn/thị xã: n. town
    kháng chiến: v. To resist (against foreign aggression), to carry out a war of resistance
    thương nhân: [long-handled spear + person = blue-collar, working-class people?]
    tạp: adj. poor, miscellaneous
    lụa: n. silk
    bợt: adj. frayed; faded; pale
    thắm: adj. deep, gorgeous warm
    cư: v. to dwell; to live
    hoan hỉ: adj. joyful; delighted
    phồn vinh: adj. prosperous
    lướt: v. to glide; to graze
    nghếch: v. to look bewildered/puzzled; to look up
    phì phò: pant, puff, and blow
    tuôn: v. to spurt, to stream out; to give out, to throw out
    luồng hơi: n. steam jet
    cây số: milestone; kilometer
    buồm: sail
    lặng: adj. silent; calm; quiet (weather)
    lội: v. to swim, to wade
    chão: n. rope
    thao láo: adj. wide open
    trầm: adj. deep, bass, low
    láy: v. to repeat; to reiterate
    gò: 1)n. mound/knoll 2)v.to bend; to curve
    cây duối: n. streblus tree (flowering mulberry)
    kén tằm: n. silkworm cocoon
    lùm: 1)n. grove 2)adj. heaped
    kim nhũ: golden powder
    kho tàng: n. treasure
    sụt lở: fall in (collapse)
    thúng: n. basket
    mui: top; roof; hood (of car)

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  2. I agree and disagree with the leaking of all of this information. I think that some of the classified articles that could do more harm than good, could damage long lasting relations with countries around the world.

    On the other hand, I believe that it is every journalists duty to relate the facts and information to the public, just so it doesn't hamper anything as stated above...

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