Abstract

This chapter examines the vexed question: should journalists “publish and be damned?” It’s an issue with fresh implications in a globalized media world where the repercussions of disclosures are no longer constrained to a parochial environment. In this interconnected world, a “new” journalism without national borders, exemplified by WikiLeaks, utilizes the modern to interrogate old ideas of transparency and human rights. The chapter examines how journalists are now caught between cultural/nationalist pressures at home and the effect of stories read overseas, where the interpretation can be very different. The reach of national laws is also further facilitated in the internet age. Take, for example, the US extradition charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The chapter explains how the impact on a journalist/publisher/source can be profound as the West also steps back from its publicly stated goal of defending democracy—not only prosecuting journalists but selling surveillance equipment to regimes who spy on, torture, and even murder the journalists whose values they supposedly uphold.