WikiLeaks and the Question of the Week

The question of the week was "What are the constraints on Free Speech and the 1st Amendment for the News Industry?", and I chose to bring that question to the international 'news organization', WikiLeaks. 

The focus of my research was on the background of WikiLeaks, and it's involvements with the media and implications regarding 1st Amendment protections on classified/confidential materials. I went on to elaborate on the precedents set for leaking classified materials from The Pentagon Papers case, as well as legislation in the Espionage Act of 1917.

The biggest point I wanted to get across was that the future is very uncertain when it comes to the digital age and protections for the press, especially when it comes to agencies illegally obtaining government classified information for the sake of 'transparency' when it damages and heavily impacts the national security of a country, especially when it is the United States. 

I really enjoyed the classes' questions regarding my topic; for one because it was interesting to see what the average civilian-minded student thinks about the importance of national security and whether these breaches of secret materials are 'hero whistle-blowers' or 'traitors', and two because there were certainly some incorrect assumptions and misconceptions about the US intelligence community and strategy that I had the opportunity to clear up.
In today's society, it is more important than ever that American citizens take the time to learn what is really going on in the name of national defense, not just the biased and skewed views and representations one can find in the media.

Below are my sources for my case study presentations and outline. If anyone wanted to learn more about what actually goes on with the NSA and Armed Forces Intelligence, check out this link:
http://www.businessinsider.com/17-agencies-of-the-us-intelligence-community-2013-5

And if you never plan on applying for a security clearance with the US government, you could always look at https://wikileaks.org to see what actually happens on the website.

-Bobby Ramirez '18

Sources:

Stone, G. R. (2011, January 04). WikiLeaks and the First Amendment. Retrieved February 15, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geoffrey-r-stone/wikileaks-and-the-first-a_b_804381.html

Bravin, N. (2010, December 02). Why the First Amendment won't necessarily protect WikiLeaks. Retrieved February 15, 2017, from http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2010/12/see_you_in_court_mr_assange.html

Roberts, A. (2012, March 22). WikiLeaks: the illusion of transparency. SAGE journals, . Retrieved February 15, 2017 , from http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0020852311429428

Fenster, M. (2012). Disclosure's Effects: WikiLeaks and Transparency. Iowa Law Review 97(3), 753-808. Retrieved February 21, 2017 from http://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1259&context=facultypub

Stone, G. (2012). WikiLeaks and the First Amendment. Federal Communications Law Journal 64(3), 477-492. Retrieved February 21, 2017 from http://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/journal_articles/1960/

McAlister-Holland, D. (2012, February 6). 7 Things the First Amendment Doesn’t Protect. Retrieved February 20, 2017, from http://www.business2community.com/social-media/7-things-the-first-amendment-doesnt-protect-0129234#33OgqJdui5uBxEkA.97