Information Leaks and New Media

I N F O L E A K S A N D N E W

M E D I A

C H . 1 3 M E D I A C O N T E N T

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?

F A M O U S

L E A K S

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.

5

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”

I F Y O U H A D S E N S I T I V E I N F O R M A T I O N

T H A T Y O U H A D T O S H A R E , W H E R E

W O U L D Y O U S E N D O R R E P O R T T H E

S T O R Y ?

Q U E S T I O N ?

Where? & Why?