Listen to the audio on the recent Wikileaks: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11611520
Use your journalism skills and research what US defence department spokesman Geoff Morrell is talking about. On this blog, reflect on the seven elements of news and discuss amongst yourselves why this is/is not newsworthy. Posts (multiple posts for each student) should last the duration of the class period.
This post is newsworthy because the wikileaks could lead to terrorists finding out how our military operates, as well as its strengths and weaknesses. This could be catastrophic if we develop a new weapon or tactic, and then someone finds out and posts it on the web. This could leave us at a major disadvantage, and this security measure could then turn into a form of intelligence for our enemies.
ReplyDeleteHaving close to 400,000 secret military documents being leaked via wiki could seriously harm the united states national security.
ReplyDeleteJohn, you're right, if one document released would lead to the death of one soldier, then 400,000 dead U.S. troops would be unacceptable. It seems that today, 1000 are unacceptable.
ReplyDeleteWikileaks is somehow receiving classified information that our government doesn't want anyone to know. They are then posting this information on the internet and everyone in the world can view it. This includes insurgents in Afganistan and they can use the information against us in the war.
ReplyDelete(Note to be made: Many of the videos did not work, or only worked once, so not many people will comment on this blog unless the issue is addressed.)
ReplyDeleteAndrew Veiga
ReplyDeleteI dont really understand the concept of wikileaks. We know the founder of the website and we know who is behind it all but why is it a big deal to leak all of this information if nobody is getting in trouble for it? In my opinion, wikileaks is a great tool to finding out what is really going on in our government and in our wars.
It's completely wrong that even if this person has all these military secrets that there sharing them, its national buissness thatshouldntbe shared
ReplyDeleteThis is a story that has proximity because it affects America as a whole and could affect the well being of Americans as a whole in the future if too many secrets get out.
ReplyDeleteAndrew Veiga
ReplyDeleteI also wonder why the founder of this website has not been charged with anything for leaking all of this classified information? Is it because they cant prove it or what
The leak of all of this info is supposedly by julian assange who has a bad history of hacking charges and other illegal government actions. His supposed hacking has led to what is being called the biggest leak of us military secrets
ReplyDeletei also agree with john wahl because if this is causing deaths then why would someone ever want to put people at risk
ReplyDeleteAndrew, if we can find out about our military through wikileaks, then Al-Qaeda can find out too. If our enemies know how our military works, they could use our strengths against us and make us fall into some sort of trap that kills innocent civilians.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Andrew Veiga. And I was wondering the same thing, why is the creator of the website not getting in trouble..?
ReplyDeleteMy computer did not allow me to watch the video..
ReplyDeleteThis is newsworthy because it could greatly impact our people and cause damage.
ReplyDeleteThis is newsworthy because it definitely allows people to find out a source to our inner military projects or tasks. I completely agree with Ryan, the government has secret agencies and what not for a reason, to keep violent and vital information away from the public so that it does not spread.
ReplyDeleteI agree with ryans last post, once the information is available, bad orginizatons and people such as terrorists can now acess that information which could be bad news
ReplyDeleteI agree with john because it really does put a really big risk on the national security of our country. This is newsworthy because it shows how people can cause a lot of damage with little things as such a website.
ReplyDeleteThis story has prominence because it could eventually harm soldiers in Afganistan and may even citizens in America. These secrets could undermine national security and give information to terrorists that are trying to harm American citizens.
ReplyDeleteThe wikileaks reveal very important secrets. This article is newsworthy because it has timeliness, an important newsworthy element. This leak is obviously a recent event and it was released in good timing. This could cause damage so its good that we have a clear warning ahead of time.
ReplyDeleteThis is very bad on the part of wikileaks and the US government for letting this happen. It should not be this easy for someone to release these "secret" military files. With over 400,000 documents released, mainly pertaining to the war in Iraq and how our military operates, this provides people with knowledge that they can use against us. This not good for our national security and for our continued involvement in the Middle East.
ReplyDeleteHow can we allow this to happen and jeopardize the power of great nation. This leak, which is the greatest in United States military history, can have the potential to be a catastrophic problem for the battleground. Like Ryan said, if we give them 70,000 documents about secrets from our war with them, those 70,000 can only benefit them in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Tyge.
ReplyDeleteI think this is Newsworthy because it was something that happened recently. It's also important for people in our country to know about because the information that was leaked to other countries is confidential and could negatively effect our country and the safety of our people, which is a consequence. It contains human interest because this is what people need to know about, this is important, not other stuff like famous people and their lives. This event is very crucial for people to know about.
ReplyDeleteThe wikileaks are also newsworthy because they have the element consequence, or how the article affects the reader. This leak obviously has a great affect on all the american citizens because it involves all of us. This could affect every one of us and it could be harmful.
ReplyDeleteTyge, you're right. The documents can only help them in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tyge as well. Our country is at stake here and it wasn't right for this crucial information to be leaked through this "Wikileaks" website.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Marissa that the article contains human interest, this is a major topic of interest in the country right now. Everyone should be informed about it and warned about it.
ReplyDeleteIn relation to the seven elements of news, I think that consequences, magnitude, and proximity are especially important. The consequences could lead to the death of U.S. soldiers, the magnitude is enormous, as 70,000 documents were confirmed to be released, with estimates ranging from 70,000 to 400,000 on what was actually released, and the proximity is also crucial. This is OUR military, these are OUR people putting their lives on the line. If something is not done about this, WE will suffer.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the caps Ryan.
ReplyDeleteThis topic on this is very harming to the military and can hurt there reputation. This leak can change how people look at the US now.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with tyge. This leak puts our nation in jeopardy and can only benefit other people in the long run. However, if it was so crucial that people did not see these documents than nobody except for high officials should have access to them and it should not have been this simple for the documents to be released.
ReplyDeletei agree with a lot of what people are saying . this is a very serious and shouldnt have been as secretive as it was.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ryan because the consequence could be very harming to the military and magnitude or amount of power this could have on us.
ReplyDeleteI think that this wikileak is newsworthy because, it will impact the U.S.A. and the entire world!
ReplyDeleteYeah we all agree.
ReplyDeleteJonathon, it was some expert hacker (or similar) that released the documents to the public. This probably means that they need to have some beteer form of security, which I am sure was already pretty substantial. It was no simple matter to release the documents.
ReplyDeleteThis is also shows human intrest becasue people want to know and have a right to know what is happening out of the US.
ReplyDeleteThis topic is definitely newsworthy because it deals with the country's military system. The military is in charge of defending and protecting the country in times of need. Now that these documents that were meant to be confidential are leaked,the country will now suffer many consequences.
ReplyDeleteThis topic also displays timeliness as it is something that happened recently. Many people might be curious as to what really happened.
ReplyDeleteI think the person who leaked the information should be charged
ReplyDeleteWikileaks gives terrorists information about the U.S military. It also tells U.S citizens the truth about where there tax money goes. That may be good or bad
ReplyDelete@marissa: the person who created wikileaks is this guy who lives in Sweeden
ReplyDeletehe still should be charged, how is that legal?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ryan and Tyge. These documents will help our enemy in the future. This is crucial; though we can not go back and undo what has been done, the government should come up with a solution to fix this mess.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Shounak. These leaked documents can also lead to positive results. Although it can help the country in a way, this is still wrong and puts the nation under great harm.
ReplyDeleteXinrui, it may not help the country. Most people will try to cover up the documents and hide them from the public as soon as possible. Therefore, we cannot find any benefits in this unless the entire country finds out about the documents, which would do more harm than good.
ReplyDeleteWell, Wikileaks is quite the website. They have uncovered lots of information and videos before this finding. I think that this is ridiculous that people are finding such leaked information. A lot of this could be exaggerated, things like the civillian casualties, but none the less that could be true and we need to tighten up security on these important documents.
ReplyDeleteXinrui
ReplyDeleteHow can this help our country and hurt our country?
I agree with Jerzy that this is a very intresting website adn it unveals very important documents.
ReplyDeletei Think that this should be taken down in order to protect very important american information.
ReplyDeleteAndrew Veiga
ReplyDeleteAll of this stuff that has been shown on the wikileaks website is stuff that the government was trying to hide from us. Im glad he put it up there.
Wikileaks don't help the U.S. when valued information is getting out. It is always dangerous to have information that could hurt you out on the web
ReplyDeleteWikileaks is a site that somehow recieves and reports highly classified info about the U.S. government. This is newsworthy because the person in charge of wikileaks could be fined hundreds of thousands of dollars and put in prison for life.
ReplyDeleteI think that this could cause really big problems for our country.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ryan. This is because it shows terrorists what they are truely doing to us. Also, I agree with Jerzy. This is because this website was very graphic.
ReplyDeletei dont think there is any thing good about this.
ReplyDelete