Anyone can be a mole by sending private and often classified information to the Wikileaks website. It is non-profit organization who’s sole purpose is to educate people on topics that lack transparency.

Anonymous sources can send Wikileaks information which is then “fact checked” by Wiki Journalists and published on their website. Usually, the sources are people inside of an organization or  situation where they have access to information that is unreported in order to protect someone’s image. For example, Bradley Manning was a troop stationed in Iraq during the 2004-2009 war and was sent to Military Jail for leaking information that jeopardized and outed the US Military’s actions (or lack thereof). In October of 2009, Manning was sent to Iraq by the United States. A month later he contacted Wikileaks and releases found footage of a Baghdad air strike which was later published on Wikileaks in April. Once the US Army had heard about the leaked information, they sent him to the Marine Corps. Brigade in July 2010. He was held in maximum custody. Prior to the detainment, Manning was not well liked by the Army since he acted out towards his commanding officers. He had gender issues and didn’t support the war. The addition of exposing confidential information to Wikileaks was the straw that broke the Army’s back. The “Bradley Manning Support Network” set up a website to raise funds and awareness of Bradley’s conviction. On the website, there is an “I am Bradley Manning” photo campaign where people take a picture of themselves with a sign that says “I am Bradley Manning”. Some people are just supporters while others are people who submitted information to Wikileaks or a similar source. Both feel that Manning has not committed a crime. I think a better and more fair question isn’t whether or not Manning is “innocent”. Rather, what does the US Military have to hide that is so contraversial?

 In an article by The Telegraph, Senator Joe Lieberman said releasing information to Wikileaks is “an attack on the national security of the United States” because certain information is meant only to be seen by a privilaged group. Unless the information is harmful for the public eye, what does the American Government have to hide? Perhaps sweeping issues under the rug in order to “protect” America isn’t doing the country any good. Allowing citizens to live in a bubble created and controlled by corporations and their power to censor media as well as the government, will only cultivate an illusion of a perfect world. By doing this it gives people a sense of false security and masks the underlying issues that are going on. Ignorance is not the way to solve problems. Maybe Wikileaks will be a window to shed some light on dusty issues that have been put on a shelf.

-Megan Chuang

How quickly can a scandal spread? Well, with the Internet it can spread like wildfire. Matt Drudge of “The Drudge Report” heard about an affair between President Bill Clinton and an intern, Monica Lewinski while Clinton was in administration. The story was then leaked to NewsWeek but it was declined. Matt Drudge took this and ran- quickly.

He decided that all it takes to curate news was one man and a blog which gave him unlimited access to the public. He wanted some honesty in the media since that’s all anyone really wants in today’s world. This was the start of citizen journalism and it was all run by a single person. The Drudge Report is still around today and booming with internet hits. Matt Drudge views his site as a “international clearing ground of news” because it pushes the boundaries of what can be exposed- everything.

His site started a Canadian site called “The Little Report” which is advertised as a Canadian version of Drudge’s American site. Some are critical of the highly opinionated headings. Christian News Today says that “you’re being manipulated” by the news. In fact, the heading of their piece is “The Drudge Distort“. Headings play a very important role in Matt Drudge’s site because they intrigue people to click on them which brings them to a larger article.

The design of the site plays a large part in it’s popularity because it is fairly basic and not in-your-face flashy. Sites such as WordPress follow a similar format which is appealing to the viewers and appears less like it has been made by a corporation.

The Internet is instantaneous and allows people who used to be separated by geographical boundaries to access the same content and converse with others around the world.

Matt Drudge used a controversial topic to jump start his reporting and journalistic career as a one man blog. Though his blog is heavily opinionated by him, it attracts over two million page hits per day! Drudge is considered as a big player in the development of citizen journalism and aggregation sites.