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Comment by superb-owl | Hacker News Reader

If you're going to illegally leak sensitive information, give it to journalists, not WikiLeaks.

Good journalists know how to balance public safety and public interest, and have the resources to redact dangerous information. WikiLeaks is much more anarchic and leans heavily towards total disclosure.

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Then there's the case of Reality Winner and the Intercept's bungling:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_Winner

That despite the EFF's technologist Micah Lee being on the Intercept's staff. (Lee was not consulted in managing the documents.)

The ICIJ seem to have robust practices and a proven track record. I'm aware of their handling multiple leaks and not compromising any sources.

https://www.icij.org/

Total disclosure when it happens to favor Russian interests. Not otherwise.

https://www.vox.com/world/2017/1/6/14179240/wikileaks-russia...

Wikileaks was leaking before vox had any readers to shill

Most of their leaks are bipartisan

They were bipartisan until they weren't.

Ah yes. Journalists who definitely aren't going to be subjects of the illegal domestic surveillance which is exists precisely for the purpose of doing things like stopping journalists from doing their jobs.

Back when the main leaks happened, most real journalists were not able to use encryption, which would be a risk for the leaker. Snowden had to teach Greenwald encryption first. Newspapers only started to publish their public keys afterwards.

> give it to journalists, not WikiLeaks.

This is utter agitprop nonsense. Do you work in the defense industry?

Wikileaks have been a lot more responsible with their reporting than the so-called journalists you revere.

Caveat emptor leaking anything to “journalists”

Caveat narrator. Alternatively, caveat proditor.

It's not like casual secrets are usually leaked.

Trust doesn't mean blindness. If I agree to conceal your secrets and then you tell me you are doing unspeakable acts against me and the rest of the country, why the fuck wouldn't I out you?

All of this trust, honor, integrity humdrum only makes sense when it's reciprocated. These principles are predicated on bidirectionality but for some reason, macho nationalists love to act like these principles are some one-sided blood pact, made in a sacrificial fashion by "real" men.

These agents are able to keep their mouths shut while their soul withers to dust. It's clearly not out of strength, more out of cowardice, ingroup identification, and learned psychopathy.

Lame! Fuck the spooks and the skunks they rode in on!

Real journalists defined by the media cartel or government entities?

The leaker!

I find True Scotsman to be an unhealthy outlook on the universe.

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