This is the first of a two-part report by Four Corners for Australian TV released in 2019 as Julian Assange is in prison in the United Kingdom, awaiting extradition proceedings to the USA. This first section deals with the history of WikiLeaks in a cursory fashion, how they became famous, what materials they released and why it matters.
The programme unfortunately relies on tainted witnesses like Daniel Domscheit-Berg and US government officials, and strikes this ‘balancing act’ we see in most of these mainstream reports. The story is taken up to the point when WikiLeaks have released the US Embassy cables, and Julain has taken refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy.
The film, as is usual in these cases, concentrates on Julian the man, and virtually nothing is said about those he exposed, and the crimes they committed, or the impact their decisions had on people's lives. It is really as though none of that matters, and it is ‘controversial’ personalities that make a story. Although I publish it here, it is with these reservations.
To my own mind, I find it difficult to understand how mainstream media do not see how this narrative is playing right into the hands of those who would restrict their own abilities to do their job. I wonder if we will ever see the day when mainstream gets it? On the other hand I wish a more prominent member of the opposition would get into making the documentary we all want to see.
