information leaks and new media
TRANSCRIPT
C H . 1 3 M E D I A C O N T E N T
• McQuail sees that mass media are
generally oriented in the interests of their
audiences
• Should reflect or embody free expression,
despite internal pressures
H O W W I K I L E A K S
B E A T
M A I N S T R E A M
M E D I A
T O D D G I T L I N
W H Y D I D T H E B I G G E S T L E A K I N G O V T .
H I S T O R Y G O T O A N O B S C U R E
W E B S I T E ?
T O D D G I T L I NA U T H O R
•American sociologist, political writer, novelist and commentator
•Professor and chair of the Ph.d program in Communications at Columbia University
H O W W I K I L E A K S B E A T T H E M A I N S T R E A M M E D I A
G I T L E N ' S Q U E S T I O N
• Why are whistleblowers turning over sensitive
information not to an established institution of
journalism but to an independent website?
P E N T A G O N
P A P E R S -
1 9 6 7
• United States Department
of Defense history of the
United States' political-
military involvement in
Vietnam from 1945 to
1967.
• Papers released/leak by
Daniel Ellsberg
W A T E R G A T E -
1 9 7 2
Watergate scandals by 2
Washington Post Reporters -
Bob Woodward and Carl
Bernstein - they were stars of
journalism world - not because of
their institution because of their
reputation to be smart, dogged
and indefatigable, skeptical.
I N V I E T N A M - W A S T H E
V I E T N A M W A R M A S S
K I L L I N G O F B E T W E E N
3 4 7 A N D 5 0 4 5 0 4
U N A R M E D C I V I L I A N S I N
S O U T H V I E T N A M
M Y L A I
M A S S A C R E -
1 9 7 2
W I K I L E A K S -
2 0 1 0
Julian Assange - Wikileaks - editor-
in-chief of the website WikiLeaks,
which he co-founded in 2006 after an
earlier career
in hackingand programming.
WIKI LEAKS-
2010
Chelsea (formerly Bradley)
Manning - United States
Army soldier who was convicted
in July 2013 of violations of
the Espionage Act and other
offenses, after releasing the
largest set of classified
documents ever leaked to the
public.
G L O B A L S S U R V E I L L A N C E P R O G R A M S
- 2 0 1 3
E D W A R D S N O W D E N
Seen as the reassertion of the power of elite news
organizations.
Noted that many U.S. News outlets after 9/11 were blindingly patriotic in their reporting
Was treated with respect as a credible source
~3 YEARS APART
“Decades elapsed between the Pentagon leak and Private Manning’s, but only a few years separated Manning’s from Snowden’s.”
2013 2010
G L I T I N S A R G U M E N T
• Big secrets, big leaks, big databases
• Parajournalism - news reportage that strongly reflects
the point of view of the writer or editor
• Legal jeopardy and competitive forces
• Outsider to insider journalism
• Whistleblowers have more outlets than ever before
• Cross board journalism collaboration
• Parajournalism is left to outsiders like WikiLeaks, due
to mainstream being to busy, stodgy and too slow.
D O Y O U T H I N K T H A T N O N - E L I T E
I N S T I T U T I O N S A R E C A P A B L E O F
R E P O R T I N G C O M P L E X S T O R I E S O R
L E A K S ?
Q U E S T I O N
B O U N D A R Y - D R A W I N G P O W E R A N D T H E
R E N E W A L O F P R O F E S S I O N A L N E W S
O R G A N I Z A T I O N S : T H E C A S E O F T H E G U A R D I A N
A N D T H E E D W A R D S N O W D E N N A T I O N S E C U R I T Y
A G E N C Y L E A K .
C H A D W I C K & C O L L I S T E R
M E D I A & I N T E R N E T P O L I T I C S
M A S T E R S - G O V E R N M E N T
P H D - G O V E R N M E N T
J O U R N A L S :
P O L I T I C A L S T U D I E S ,
G O V E R N A N C E , P O L I T I C A L
C O M M U N I C A T I O N , T H E
I N T E R N A T I O N A L J O U R N A L O F
P R E S S / P O L I T I C S ,
P A R L I A M E N T A R Y A F F A I R S ,
T H E J O U R N A L O F P O L I T I C A L
I D E O L O G I E S , I N F O R M A T I O N ,
C O M M U N I C A T I O N A N D
S O C I E T Y , A N D T H E J O U R N A L
O F I N F O R M A T I O N
T E C H N O L O G Y A N D P O L I T I C S .
A N D R E W C H A D W I C K
S E N I O R L E C T U R E R A T
L O N D O N C O L L E G E O F
C O M M U N I C A T I O N S
P H D S T U D E N T
H E L P S C L I E N T S I N N O V A T E ,
R E S T R U C T U R E A N D
O P T I M I S E T H E I R
C O M M U N I C A T I O N S A N D
M A R K E T I N G F U N C T I O N S
A N D A C T I V I T I E S
S I M O N C O L L I S T E R
W I K I L E A K S T O S N O W D E N L E A K
• Wikileaks is part of a new networked fourth
estate vs. the elite news organizations
• Professional journalists, WikiLeaks, and
networks of online activists should be seen as
a new, hybrid media system
• Snowden: there is still room for professional
journalisms in this hybrid system to exert their
expertise
B O U N D A R Y D R A W I N G P O W E R
• Emerges when news organizations quickly discover new ways to
translate old media logics for which they have control.
• For Snowden - it looks like this:
• Professional investigative experience
• legal expertise of prof. lawyers
• crafting of story for max news value
• personal narratives for human interest angle
• attention to detail in timing the release of new stories for max
impact on political actors and competitor media outlets
• exploration of connections with political actors
• Strategically aligning and allocating resources
S T R A T E G Y
T H E G U A R D I A N
•WiliLeaks processes and procedures were
embedded in the news room
•Glenn Greenwald - a former salon.com
blogger (outsider) hired full-time by Guardian
(insider)
•Manages Snowden as source
•Drew boundaries between Snowden as he
searched for asylum
•Click bait - Snowden girlfriend as distraction
and grainy images of him on airplane
S T R A T E G Y C O N T .
•Written for print as they were online
consumption - social media
•#NSAFiles & #AskSnowden
•Live blogging or live web chat
•exclusive access
S U M M A R Y
• Practices reveal how professional news orgs
have developed strategies for augmenting
traditional strengths and combining them with
the hybrid model
• New orgs can adapt and translate their power to
challenge state power
• “Adaptive professional news organizations will
not be hollowed out”