Yesterday, a 21-year-old US airman, Jack Teixerie, was arrested for publishing secret documents discussing the Russian/Ukraine war. The young man is currently being charged with the antiquated Espionage Act. Mainstream outlets like NYT and The Washington Post compared the disclosures with Wikileaks and the Snowden revelations. (ridiculous). When one reads these documents, there is nothing those familiar with the war didn't already know. For example, the US has Special Forces on the ground. As expected, the CIA provides battle advice and information all over Ukraine. The only other revelation is that those higher-ups in the military and government expect the war to drag on into 2024. Other revelations like spying on American allies like South Korea. Again, information that those following the war (and the NSA) knew already. Though it's the media response to this story that is troubling.
I'm not even a journalist, and I know that the golden rule of any journalist is to never give up their sources. This case is worse than giving up sources, The Washington Post and the government-funded Bellingcat tracked down the "leaker" (doing the FBI's job) and reported his address to the authorities. Within hours, a SWAT contingent resembling the IDF stormed his home and arrested the young man.
When has it become the media's job to play cop and track down 'leakers,' who are the very lifeblood of journalism?
In a press conference with the DOD, all questions to the general was how could this happen? More so, what are you going to do about it? Are going to advance your technology to prevent this from happening again? For sure, not one journalist asked about the substance of the leaked documents and why it was a breach of National Security. These are not journalists but spokespeople for the military and the intelligence community.
Our governments lie, commit crimes and keep them secret. Only those on the 'inside' disagree with their government's actions and have a conscience that they'll contact a trusted journalist and leak information.
The greatest example in the 20th century was the Pentagon Papers. Daniel Ellsberg released these documents to the NYT and The Washington Post. The documents revealed that our government lied about the Veitnam War. He knew he would go to jail, but he did it anyway because he genuinely believed it was in the public interest. This 'leak' contributed to the end of that egregious war.
What the hell is going on? When you have a significant news outlet track down a leaker and hand over the details to the authorities? Protecting whistleblowers and leakers is part of the journalism handbook. Many real journalists have gone to jail for refusing to reveal their sources. Now they help the establishment hunt them down. We also imprison the journalists who print secret documents and leave them to rot. See Julian Assange.
I'm currently reading a memoir of Seymour Hersh. To this day, he will not name his sources unless they have passed away. This journalist revealed the American government and military's lies and machinations: The My Lai massacre. The methods, means, and utter doggedness of Herch to unearth this war crime is astounding and incredible reading. This is journalism. Unfortunately, today, the media world is a different animal and cannot be called 'journalism.'
The mainstream media is not the Fourth Estate anymore. It is the arm of the American Security State, spreading propaganda and promoting war. And now hunting down sources and handing them over to the authorities. When government and corporate interests combine, it's called fascism. Every mainstream outlet in the US and Australia should be labeled 'state-affiliated media.'
Thank our lucky stars that independent journalists are still interested in the truth and confronting the government on their corruption and crimes. The number of these real journalists is dwindling.
Once these journalists are silenced or canceled, we will no longer have a working democracy but a totalitarian state.
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