I just watched the TEDtalk of Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, a website which releases confidential information from governments and corporations. While I feel a little uneasy about leaking top secret information and was initially against the site on principle, Assange convinced me that his brand of exploitive journalism actually has much potential to incite positive change. He cited his 2007 release of the Kroll report, which exposed looting from the Kenyan purse during former president Daniel Moi’s regime. This report was released just after Moi endorsed the President Kibaki for reelection, and it is likely that the report directly led to Kibaki, favorite of Moi, losing the election.
While I still plan to focus my energies toward changing the world through health care innovation and improvements, this TEDtalk made me think that investigative journalism is an underutilized vehicle for eliminating political and corporate systems which increase suffering and inhibit positive change. I just hope Assange and the gang at WikiLeaks are extremely judicial about what they leak. They are gambling with huge stakes.
Watch the talk! Assange is creepy, intelligent, and articulate.
