The WikiLeaks Effect
Kauffmann after Assange spoke: “So first maybe we should wonder what has wikileaks changed in the way we do our job, which in the end our job is bringing news into the open.”
She talked about the advantages and disadvantages of Wikileaks. Assange had two great ideas: the safe drop box and the plan to seek cooperation from mainstream media.
Segnini: “There are no leftovers in journalism. Public data bases are all linked together.” She compared investigative journalism to cooking.
Xin asked: “What protects journalists?”
There is a lack of journalism legislation, a weak rule of law and media industry solidarity in China.
The answer: Reporting and posting all the collected evidence online.
Presentation: Julian Assange and WikiLeaks’ Impact on Journalism
How has WikiLeaks changed our job?
Sylvie Kauffmann, the Editorial Director of Le Monde, talked about the positives and negatives of WikiLeaks and how, a year later, it has altered the journalistic terrain.
Speaking immediately after Assange, she said, “We should wonder how WikiLeaks changed the way we do our job, which in the end our job is bringing news into the open.”
She said, most notably, that Assange succeeded in creating two ideas: the safe drop box and a plan to cooperate with the mainstream media.
However, in her mind, WikiLeaks also had major shortcomings.
“In the end, WikiLeaks failed to protect the whistleblower,” she said.
She also doubted whether or not such a widespread release of private information could happen again, especially since, after WikiLeaks, nearly every government has revamped their security systems.
Speaker Bio: Sylvie Kauffmann
Presentation: Kauffmann on the Good and Bad of WikiLeaks
Data Journalism a Form of “Cooking”
Costa Rican investigative journalist Giannina Segnini compared data journalism, and its ability to produce worthwhile, truthful storytelling, to something everyone in the audience knew very well: cooking.
She said producing data journalism happens in three stages — gathering the ingredients, creating creative combinations with those ingredients and, lastly, sharing with the world.
“Leftovers happen when there is a lack of creativity,” she said. However, Segnini asserted that this never needs to be the case.
“There are no leftovers in journalism,” Segnini said. “Public data bases are all linked together.”
What Protects Journalists?
Li Xin, the managing editor of Caixin Weekly, began her presentation with a question: “What protects journalists?”
She said that there is both a lack of journalism legislation and a weak rule of law, especially in her home country China. These circumstances, among others, heavily contribute to an environment where something like WikiLeaks is ostensibly impossible there.
She said there are instances of investigative reporting in China, but they are few and far between and still under close governmental perusal.
In her mind, “thorough reporting” has been the most critical aspect of this type of journalism, something reiterated even more following WikiLeaks.