Joris Luyendijk: 'The old model of journalism is broken' | Media Video: Dutch journalist Joris Luyendijk on how the news agenda defines our views of different countries – and how to stop sustainability seeming boring Link to video: 'Journalism is about exceptions to the rule, what is different, what is spectacular' Many journalists have mid-life crises when they begin to doubt their capacity to capture the truth in words or escape the media echo chamber. Joris Luyendijk had his crisis early – when he was 31, to be precise. He was Middle East correspondent for the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad, was widely admired, had just covered the Gulf war . . . and he packed it all in to write a book. That book, published in the Netherlands in 2006 and in the UK last year with the title Hello Everybody! Hello Everybody! "What will you have? His main focus over the last couple of years, however, has not been the book, but an attempt to develop a new way of doing journalism. Luyendijk says "the old model of journalism is broken" – but so what?
zunguzungu Julian Assange and the Computer Conspiracy; “To destroy this invisible government” (en Español) (auf Deutsch) (in het nederlands) “To radically shift regime behavior we must think clearly and boldly for if we have learned anything, it is that regimes do not want to be changed. The piece of writing (via) which that quote introduces is intellectually substantial, but not all that difficult to read, so you might as well take a look at it yourself. He begins by positing that conspiracy and authoritarianism go hand in hand, arguing that since authoritarianism produces resistance to itself — to the extent that its authoritarianism becomes generally known — it can only continue to exist and function by preventing its intentions (the authorship of its authority?) Authoritarian regimes give rise to forces which oppose them by pushing against the individual and collective will to freedom, truth and self realization. His model for imagining the conspiracy, then, is not at all the cliché that people mean when they sneer at someone for being a “conspiracy theorist.” Like this:
One ambassador’s embarrassment is a tragedy, 15,000 civilian deaths is a statistic Few things illustrate the challenges facing journalism in the age of ‘Big Data’ better than Cable Gate – and specifically, how you engage people with stories that involve large sets of data. The Cable Gate leaks have been of a different order to the Afghanistan and Iraq war logs. Not in number (there were 90,000 documents in the Afghanistan war logs and over 390,000 in the Iraq logs; the Cable Gate documents number around 250,000) – but in subject matter. Why is it that the 15,000 extra civilian deaths estimated to have been revealed by the Iraq war logs did not move the US authorities to shut down Wikileaks’ hosting and PayPal accounts? Tragedy or statistic? I once heard a journalist trying to put the number ‘£13 billion’ into context by saying: “imagine 13 million people paying £1,000 more per year” – as if imagining 13 million people was somehow easier than imagining £13bn. Research suggests this is a problem that not only affects journalism, but justice as well. Salience He is right.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange arrested in London 8 December 2010Last updated at 04:45 GMT Julian Assange (left) appeared in court with John Pilger and others offering sureties The founder of whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, Julian Assange, has been refused bail by a court in London but vowed to fight extradition to Sweden. Mr Assange denies sexually assaulting two women in Sweden. He was remanded in custody pending a hearing next week. A judge at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court refused bail because of the risk of the 39-year-old fleeing. A Wikileaks spokesman said the arrest was an attack on media freedom and pledged to continue publishing. After the court appearance Mr Assange's lawyer Mark Stephens said he would be applying again for bail. He claimed the accusations were "politically motivated" and said the judge was keen to see the evidence against Mr Assange, an Australian citizen. Mr Stephens said Wikileaks would continue to publish material and added: "We are on cable 301 and there are 250,000 secret cables." The allegations
Julian Assange's rape case: is Sweden just making it up? Julian Assange's former lawyer writes for Crikey Apparently having consensual sex in Sweden without a condom is punishable by a term of imprisonment of a minimum of two years for rape. That is the basis for a reinstitution of rape charges against WikiLeaks figurehead Julian Assange that is destined to make Sweden and its justice system the laughing stock of the world and dramatically damage its reputation as a model of modernity. Sweden’s Public Prosecutor’s Office was embarrassed in August this year when it leaked to the media that it was seeking to arrest Assange for rape, then on the same day withdrew the arrest warrant because in its own words there was “no evidence”. For three months Assange had been waiting in vain to hear whether media statements by and for the two female “victims” that there was no fear or violence were going to be embellished so the charges might be carried forward due to greater seriousness. *James D.
Don't shoot messenger for revealing uncomfortable truths Elizabeth Cook's artist impression of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's appearance at Westminster Magistrates Court in London, where he was denied bail after appearing on an extradition warrant. Source: AP WIKILEAKS deserves protection, not threats and attacks. IN 1958 a young Rupert Murdoch, then owner and editor of Adelaide's The News, wrote: "In the race between secrecy and truth, it seems inevitable that truth will always win." His observation perhaps reflected his father Keith Murdoch's expose that Australian troops were being needlessly sacrificed by incompetent British commanders on the shores of Gallipoli. The British tried to shut him up but Keith Murdoch would not be silenced and his efforts led to the termination of the disastrous Gallipoli campaign. Nearly a century later, WikiLeaks is also fearlessly publishing facts that need to be made public. I grew up in a Queensland country town where people spoke their minds bluntly. These things have stayed with me. It is neither.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrested - U.S. news - WikiLeaks in Security LONDON — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was refused bail and jailed for a week by a British court Tuesday, pending an extradition hearing over alleged sex offenses in Sweden. Assange turned himself in to U.K. police earlier in the day in the latest blow to his WikiLeaks organization, which faces legal, financial and technological challenges after releasing hundreds of secret U.S. diplomatic cables. Swedish prosecutors had issued an arrest warrant for the 39-year-old Australian, who is accused of sexual misconduct with two women. Assange surrendered at 9:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. ET) Tuesday. During his court appearance, Assange said he would fight extradition to Sweden and he provided the court with an Australian address. The next court hearing is scheduled for next Tuesday, and Assange will remain in custody until then because he was deemed to be a flight risk. Judge Howard Riddle asked Assange whether he understood that he could agree to be extradited to Sweden. U.S.
Vijf lessen van Wikileaks Terecht. Assange veranderde samen met de anderen achter Wikileaks de spelregels rond journalistiek, bronbescherming en klokkenluiders. De impact is enorm, en zal de komende jaren alleen maar groter worden. Nu al zijn vijf lessen te trekken. Ten eerste, klokkenluiders blijken meer vertrouwen te hebben in Wikileaks dan in traditionele media. Ten tweede, oude en nieuwe media hebben elkaar nodig. Ten derde blijkt dat openbaarheid van bestuur weinig garanties verschaft. Dat heeft te maken met het vierde punt: overheden hebben gefaald bij het werkelijk beschermen van klokkenluiders. Les vijf volgt daarop: overheden zullen de beveiliging van gegevens moeten verbeteren. Het laatste is niet zozeer een les als wel een wens: het is tijd dat klokkenluiders uit corrupte, slecht bestuurde landen de weg weten te vinden naar Wikileaks; net zoals het mooi zou zijn als er meer rotzooi zou komen uit bedrijven die weigeren transparant te zijn.
Ten Theses on Wikileaks By Geert Lovink and Patrice Riemens These 0. “What do I think of Wikileaks? I think it would be a good idea!” (after Mahatma Gandhi’s famous quip on ‘Western Civilisation’) These 1. These 2. These 3. These 4. These 5. Traditional investigative journalism consisted of three phases: unearthing facts, cross-checking these and backgrounding them into an understandable discourse. These 6. These 7. These 8. These 9. Maybe Wikileaks will organize itself around an own version of the IETF’s slogan ‘rough consensus and running code’? These 10. Amsterdam, late August 2010 Deugt WikiLeaks? Francisco van Jole, hoofdredacteur van de VARA-debatsite Joop, schaarde zich aan haar zijde en startte de internetpetitie ‘Rutte, Red WikiLeaks’. Nederland is, lezen we erin, ‘van oudsher een land dat onderdak biedt aan mensen die zich inzetten voor de vrijheid van meningsuiting’. Ook Van Jole wees Rutte op diens eigen woorden. Marbe, Van Jole en Weesie vinden elkaar in het gemak waarmee ze een verband leggen tussen de vrijheid van meningsuiting en WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks als ondermijning van de democratieNatuurlijk niet, betoogt hoogleraar natuurkunde en blogger Ad Lagendijk op Van Joles eigen site Joop. Ook volgens The Daily Beast-blogger en hoogleraar Tunku Varadarajan is Assange een gevaarlijke vandaal die zich als moraalridder vermomt. WikiLeaks als samenzweringsfilosofieInderdaad ontzegt Assange regeringen het recht op geheimen. De manier om het complot te ontmantelen is door geheime informatiestromen aan het licht te brengen.