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The War on Journalism (feat. Julian Assange)
Almost every day, we as ordinary civilians hear about the ‘War on Terror’, or the ‘War on Drugs’. Another war is often forgotten and is becoming especially prevalent under the Trump Administration. This is the War on Journalism.
Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, was charged with violating the Espionage Act on a total of 17 new counts. Whether you hate Assange or love Assange, this does indeed mark a crucial point surrounding the concept of a War on Journalism. These new charges are maintained by the role that Assange played in regards to the publishing of secret and classified documents leaked by Chelsea Manning, who is also currently in jail for refusing to testify in front of a grand jury for a second time.
So what does this mean for the future of journalism?
Well, it sets a dangerous precedent for all future potential governmental leaks, regardless of how they are obtained in the first place. If Assange is eventually found guilty by the United States authorities, then this prevents investigative journalism from fulfilling its job. What job might be obscured? That would be the former of the occupation: investigating.
This decision made by the Department of Justice (DoJ) creates an atmosphere of fear for aspiring journalists as well as already existing and prominent journalists around…
