Why Julian Assange is a journalist

[Joanne98]

Julian Assange may not be Time’s Man of the Year, but he almost certainly is a journalist -- at least as far as the First Amendment is concerned.

The Constitution’s First Amendment forbids Congress from making any law abridging either freedom of speech or freedom of the press. Some commentators and government officials have confidently asserted that Assange is not a journalist -- perhaps intending to imply that he does not enjoy the protections afforded by the First Amendment. But they are almost certainly incorrect.

Let us first dispense with the idea that Assange may not enjoy the safeguards of the First Amendment because he is a not a United States citizen. The language of the First Amendment does not limit its protections to citizens, and the courts have never interpreted it that way.

Let us next dispense with the canard that Assange does not enjoy First Amendment protection because he is not objective, has a point of view, or is seeking to achieve a particular political outcome. As a historical matter, it is clear that objectivity has never been an indispensable characteristic of journalism. The ideology of journalistic objectivity emerged as at the end of the nineteenth century as part of a broader cultural and intellectual movement. But for at least half of the history of the American journalism, newspapers freely acknowledged that their judgments about news were influenced by partisan considerations. And today many established news organizations no longer even pretend to be neutral about the issues of the day. Others cling to a veneer of objectivity by presenting “both sides” of an issue while nevertheless presenting a clear point of view. More important than this history, however, is that grafting an "objectivity" requirement onto the First Amendment would subject freedom of expression to the subjective judgments of prosecutors and judges about whether a given journalist is sufficiently objective, thereby threatening to cripple press liberty.

http://www.salon.com/news/wikileaks/?story=/politics/war_room/2010/12/20/wikileaks_gant_journalism

[CJCRANE]

1. K & R.