WikiLeaks illustrates need for local media’s evolution Wednesday, 22 December 2010 00:37

After WikiLeaks, all of the covering-up, caution, concealment, and denial in the world are no longer necessary after the masses’ suspicions about world affairs were verified. Within just a moment, everything that official media worked so hard to hide was published. The release of the cables is not as damaging as people think. After everyone read the cables, their interest was surely piqued, but now that the information is public, there is less discussion based on rumors as to what may be hidden or disguised. When something is secretive, it whets the appetite of the imagination and fuels speculation, causing the world in which we live to appear more mysterious than it is, and make us see things that do not necessarily exist.

What were the effects and implications of the leaked cables? Nothing but breaking the aura and mystery shrouded with secrets contained in sealed envelopes, suggesting importance and confidentiality. It turns out that diplomatic pouches are like information brochures that do not add to what the world already suspects. The era of closely guarding and tightly protecting information became extinct after the widespread use of computers and other forms of communication technology.

As for the press, which once believed itself a cloaked arbitrator which controls the minds of the masses by channeling their ideas through narrow windows, it finds difficulty accepting the fact that it has been replaced today. The threads of censorship are now outdated in favour of transparency and immediate access to up-to-date information.

Evolution occurs at a stunning pace that is greater than the capacity of traditional minds that became accustomed to old ways. Change does not even allow traditionalists the time to realize that their feet are planted in quicksand. The media has to adapt quickly before it becomes useless and extinct, like an artifact from an era that has ended long ago and will never return again.

WikiLeaks may not have the right to publish documents due to one ethical argument, that is – its publishers resorted to a form of piracy and theft to obtain the information as they never asked permission from their owners, and infiltrated confidential property. However, the surprising thing is that the disclosure of classified documents did not destroy or change international relations by lifting the curtains to potential conspiracies. Instead, it unmasked what was already suspected but no official dared to declare. The published cables revealed the best and the worst of humanity, as nations and states are merely entities managed by humans.

The US may be the angriest about the consequences of WikiLeaks as it was hit the hardest by an attack on its privacy and on the receiving end of violations toward its foreign affairs. You can only imagine how devastated Julian Assange, WikiLeaks’ founder, would be if hackers attacked the privacy of his personal e-mail account and disseminated them. Even though the information contained within them would not be that important or interesting to the rest of the world, but to him it would be an assault on his personal liberty, which is guaranteed to him by his country’s constitution and principles of human rights. If that is how he would feel as an individual, one can only imagine how a government and its institutions would feel regarding the assault on its multi-billion dollar secrets.

The world is at a critical juncture where the fast and sharp growth of communication has taken on a life of its own. It breaks into the personal lives of people without warning. One has to look no further than YouTube to witness the erosion of privacy, as everyone from politicians, kings, princes, official representatives, and even there are regularly chased and hounded by photographers and paparazzi for the entertainment of the masses.

With the rapid pace of evolution in media technology, local newspapers seem to be living in a different planet, untouched by the revolution of communication and information. Will local media change or continue to hide its head in the sand, thinking that it will be protected and immune from the rest of the world’s developments?

Local newspapers are like political parties but the difference is that the writers and editors are not faithful to the principles of the newspapers. Each has their own set of opinions and beliefs that often collide with those of the agencies where they work and write. Therefore, several articles of pieces of their work are rejected. That is why we have seen the movements of local journalists from one paper to another depending upon the topic that they wish to publish. While one publication may publish and editorial critical of a minister, for example, another publication may obscure a similar opinion depending on the characters involved and the interests of the shareholders.

Newspaper owners play a role in guiding the path for their interests, which editors are sensitively attuned to. Each newspaper has its alliances and relationships. It does not present itself as more than just an interface for information of an official point of view, but it must be larger and more comprehensive than that. Local media should expand to include not only the official views of newspapers but the opinions of others. The press ought to be free or at least neutral but unfortunately this ideal is grander than the horizons of local and most of the world’s newspapers, which are all biased in one way or another. Even if they operate in the guise of freedom, they continue to march on according to ideological and personal whims and fancies of shareholders.

WikiLeaks is not just a site. It has ended up breaking old patterns and opening access to uncharted territory. Of course, it is not ideal as it is fraught with faults and infringements on official correspondence. But as long as the figures remain public and the events are current, they will continue to be a part of people’s conversations and at the pinnacle of social make-up. Just as WikiLeaks appears, so will other similar sites. The positions of states and individuals may be safer if they are transparent and show facts in statements because at least then, there will be control over speculation. What is valuable news today is worthless tomorrow. WikiLeaks has posed a serious confrontation but if the same things were discussed beforehand in official media then threats to divulge their secrets would not attract any noise. On the other hand, when information is transferred within an intermediary and smuggled out, officials are in a weaker position to react after the fact.

Censorship, then, makes people more interested in the issues that are behind closed doors. The more that editors conceal information, the more that people will speculate and make mountain out of a mole hill. Under the evolutionary circumstances of communication, it is high time for newspapers to adapt and make up for lost time. Today, local media must recognize that it is facing fierce competition from online sources.

Dedication to professional standards requires the dissemination of all ideas - even if they are in disagreement with the newspaper. Even though the newspaper may be owned by groups with interests that influence the editor, a newspaper’s role should be open and public under the slogan of integrity and honesty. It is necessary to not only express the views, news and comments favoring the publication but also bearing the true thoughts of the writers so that the public can make informed decisions.

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