Do some research on What happened in the Pentagon Papers case and WikiLeaks. (Th

Question

Do some research on What happened in the Pentagon Papers case and WikiLeaks. (There isa brief discussion in the Levinson book.) Do you agree that the Pentagon Papers and WikiLeaks involved the same type of journalistic activity? Why or why not? Do you believe that wiki contributors or bloggers are journalists and therefore should be protected by the First Amendment, or do you believe that new media has so fundamentally changed our society that we should look at limiting freedom of speech when it pertains to new media blogs and wikis? Remember to support your positions with substantive reasoning.

Explanation / Answer

In the context of the given question, the Wikileaks docs presents a report on the Afghan war, which may or may not be close representation of the incident, and reports it upwards through the chain of command.

The Pentagon Papers, on the otherside, designs and presents the Vietnam war as a strategic view based on which decisions were made in Washington.

Another major comparison is that Wikileaks presents and describes the actual happenings about the Afghan war, the troops and casualities that were involved and the inefficiency of the Afghan government, so not much modification of the overall idea as it is described to the readers.

However, the Pentagon Papers describe some of the happenings described to be false and presents a whole new picture of the Vietnam war. This also throws some light on the jurisdiction and working of the US Courts.

I strongly agree and believe with the given statement. In the 21st century, it is highly imperative for media to be regulated giving only appropriate information which does not incite violence or resentment from the public but all information is in the interest of the people and their awareness only.

Reference: CBS News article dated July 26, 2010

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