WikiLeaks: Moral agent or National Threat?

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Recommended: Ethics in journalism

This essay will offer a critical analysis of the 2010 WikiLeaks Controversy. For this paper, I will attempt to demonstrate different ethical standpoints of the controversy through a media case study. I will investigate if it was ethical for the media to collaborate in this agreement in order to figure out what kind of person Julian Assange was. The question of whether the media was being moral in this situation depends on the question of whether he is a hacker or a journalist. The title of a hacker receives negative backlash because whereas the title of a journalist receives positive feedback because a hacker has a very negative connotation of a criminal or even a spy whereas a journalist is seen in a positive light, of releasing truth to the public. From this, one could ask if what WikiLeaks did would be considered ethical? Was it moral for the media to cooperate? This all depends on what he did and who he is, this will make a difference and determine if it was ethical.
I chose the WikiLeaks controversy because I believe it illustrates how groundbreaking and newsworthy technology can be and the strong impact that can have on public life. Therefore, I will advocate that the publication was ethically sound because the knowledge of the public should be the number one priority. WikiLeaks is said to have generated the greatest confrontation between the established order of the government and the advocacy that can come from the internet. WikiLeaks is proof of the lengths people will go in order to find the truth and the results of that, all of which can be looked at using consequentialist theory. This paper will first outline the story of the controversy followed by micro and macro ethical concerns that are raised, morally relevant ...

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...plying the utilitarian principle short-term consequences should be balanced out with the long-term consequences. Utilitarianism focuses on what can be the best decision for the entire society. Keeping this in in mind, I would ask what has the greater overall benefit to the nation. Would it be that the public release of the military covering it's actions fo rthe sake of knowledge, or withholding that knowledge in favour of the safety of America troops abroad and the citizens in the United States.
I would choose to withold the information because, from a utilitarian standpoint, citizens' and troops' safety would have taken importance over anything else. It is important to understand that, in many cases the world is a complex place, with many diplomatic efforts needing to be made, and the government conceals information to protect the best interests of their citizens.

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