The South African Civil Society Information Service

John Pilger: WikiLeaks a Wake Up Call for Journalists

14 Aug 2010

In this recent interview with Russia Today, progressive journalist, John Pilger, argues, "What WikiLeaks has done, is what journalists should have done."

In his view, the WikiLeaks exposés might change journalism all together and if not change it, then at least wake it up.

WikiLeaks has given us a sense of the "political disaster that is behind the human disaster in Afghanistan."

It also highlights the need for "journalists to separate themselves from the word of authority and start becoming independent."

Commenting on the Internet in general, Pilger contends, "There is truth telling on the Internet."

And, he believes that the Internet is subverting more traditional media like newspapers and documentaries. "The agenda that comes through in mainstream journalism is something that we can do without and the Internet has certainly subverted that," he says.

However, Pilger also believes that that the Internet should not be subverting the mainstream media. Rather, it should complement it.

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