In 1971 the New York Times published official top secret government documents for the public to view. Daniel Ellsberg was the one responsible for leaking this information to the press regarding the Vietnam War. The documents contained information regarding multiple lies of those in power regarding the war that was happening at the time. These documents are what are now referred to as The Pentagon Papers which consisted of over 7,000 pages. Ellsberg was willing to go to jail to see that the general public was informed as to what their government was actually doing and what their brothers, fathers, husbands and sons were in reality fighting for.
In more recent news Bradley Manning has been arrested for leaking documents to Wikileaks regarding information on the war in Iraq. Bradley Manning has a possible death sentence looming regarding this unleashing of government documents and has allegedly been quoting saying “I wouldn’t mind going to prison for the rest of my life”.
Both of these men have been willing to put their own lives aside to inform the public of what governments are hiding from them. Yet you may ask yourself, as I did, what are we (the public) willing to do with the information we receive? Do we want the news to be in black and white or do we enjoy reading the grey print? News like this might shock us and make us question governments however how far are we willing to go to help individuals like this and others continue to inform us.
Hundreds of people were willing to show their support when they demonstrated outside the prison where Bradley Manning is being held. Thirty five individuals were arrested by police at the rally. This just goes to show that people want a change they are willing to fight for their right to know. However if we look back to the 1970’s we see a different picture when Ellsberg released the documents that proved that Nixon (current president) was lying to his country it only took a couple months after the release that the president was reelected.
I do believe that people are beginning to realize that they want a change and the truth. I think it is important that newspapers continue to publish this information and continue to help with this change. I respect the New York Times and Wikileaks for publishing this crucial information; it was a risk for them as well. With technology constantly evolving it is not only the obligation of the press to inform us but for the public to inform each other.
Hyperlinks
Police arrest 35 at Quantico rally for suspected WikiLeaks whistleblower - http://www2.insidenova.com/news/2011/mar/20/6/hundreds-rally-quantico-suspected-wikileaks-whistl-ar-916404/
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