The author writes that there are far more admirable journalists also locked up. This may be true. The interesting thing about Assange is not just that he’s locked up, but that he’s locked up in the UK, for extradition to the US.
Again, not to minimize these other journalists, but a journalist being prosecuted in Iran, Belarus, the UAE, etc. is very different from one being persecuted in a western nation with rule of law and free speech.
I think what's happened is that journalists used to protect journalists --now they lean a bit towards protecting "like-mindedness" rather then being principled. When Julian was helping release incriminating evidence of US wrongdoing he was a hero, when he released evidence against someone they agreed with then he became persona non-grata and somewhat a pariah in some circles.
And yes, that the US and UK are doing this is perverted. We're not supped to be like China ,Russia or Iran.
Is Assange a journalist? I would argue that there's a difference between someone who just dumps documents on the internet, and one who tries to inform and bring attention to issues. I don't consider folks who leak documents on discord or wargame forums to be journalists either.
From the article: In an interview with the UK TV station, Channel 4, Assange once said: “Other journalists try to verify sources. We don't do that, we verify documents. We don't care where it came from."
Just sharing information does not make one a journalist, Trump is not a journalist for sharing classified info, and I think it's disingenuous to pretend that Assange is wanted for violations against free speech or something.
Al Jazeera clearly doesn’t know the first thing about journalism.
Good journalists verify sources of information to ensure the authenticity of the news.
Doxxing the individuals that help you along the way is decidedly not good journalism.
Moreover, Al Jazeera reveals two admissions about their own practices.
First, that they too often rely on second hand and witness accounts. When you’re merely reporting on things people said, it becomes important to know who said it. That’s a lower quality than getting the original evidence.
Second, Al Jazeera emphasizes that they do not intend to be faithful to the truth. They call true information propaganda merely because it may come from individuals they don’t like. This willingness to suppress valuable stories is despicable.
I guess that’s better than relying on official government sources without verifying and presenting it as fact. Think New York Times, and the Iraq wmd bullshit. Or basically anything that quotes official Ukrainian government sources as fact instead of putting strong caveats that the information is released in a controlled manner as of the war effort and may not reflect actual facts.
Again, not to minimize these other journalists, but a journalist being prosecuted in Iran, Belarus, the UAE, etc. is very different from one being persecuted in a western nation with rule of law and free speech.