re: #146 Obdicut

I want to know what Wikileaks actually is.

You know what it is. Why do you keep asking me as though you don’t?

A lot of people are saying they would like Wikileaks if only it changed somewhat. So I’m asking what you think the central premise or identity of wikileaks is, that you would like to preserve even if aspects of it were changed.

See my 124, and my 134 for how I would change it. The central premise is a place to anonymously leak information pertinent to the public interest, be it governmental or business. Where they have gone wrong, imo, is that some of that interest is not pertinent to the public, or is insufficiently edited (redacted) to protect important interests, or alternately, overly edited so as to convey an impression which isn’t entirely accurate.

I view the existence of wikileaks in an environment that lacks a functional press to be preferable to the absence of wikileaks in the same environment. Preferable to that paradigm would be a functioning press, and no wikileaks, but that isn’t an option.

(the really short answer is no one is watching the watchers. Better a shitty watcher-watcher than none at all.)