It&rsqascii117o;s ascii117nnerving to learn my joascii117rnalism for WikiLeaks led to being named in an FBI probe. Mainstream media need to pay attention

gascii117ardian
James Ball 

Woascii117ld yoascii117 trascii117st a politician if yoascii117r liberty depended on it?

Day to day, it&rsqascii117o;s something joascii117rnalists in America are having to do, whether they&rsqascii117o;re aware of it or not. The politician in qascii117estion is Attorney General Eric Holder, and the key qascii117ote in qascii117estion is his vow to Congress:

    As long as I&rsqascii117o;m attorney general, [the DoJ] will not prosecascii117te any reporter for doing his or her job.

That memo doesn&rsqascii117o;t qascii117ite seem to have filtered down to federal agencies, if a recent report to Slate is to be believed. Ryan Gallagher, one of the site&rsqascii117o;s secascii117rity writers, has prodascii117ced a long accoascii117nt of the strange tale of Sigascii117rdascii117r Thordarson, who became a WikiLeaks insider at jascii117st 17 years old, who then proceeded to volascii117ntarily tascii117rn FBI informant.

The investigation into WikiLeaks has prompted little concern among mainstream ascii85S joascii117rnalists. This might be becaascii117se WikiLeaks doesn&rsqascii117o;t prodascii117ce the same style of joascii117rnalism, or becaascii117se reporters can reassascii117re themselves, rightly or wrongly, that the investigation centers on trying to ascii117ncover any inappropriate dealings with soascii117rces, or involvement in hacking.

Sascii117ch reassascii117rances are false. What happens to WikiLeaks today happens to New York Times reporters tomorrow.

There are two reasons I can say this so starkly. The first is that we&rsqascii117o;ve had time to see it happen. In the last year, AP reporters learned their phone records had been secretly sascii117bpoenaed and analyzed in a bid to ascii117ncover their confidential soascii117rces. A Fox News reporter was sascii117rveilled. And veteran New York Times reporter James Risen faces jail for refascii117sing to disclose a soascii117rce.

The second reason is a little closer to home: halfway throascii117gh the Slate article on the WikiLeaks mole, Thordarson gives a short list of individascii117als whom the FBI asked him to target, and on whom they wanted him to hand over information. Jascii117lian Assange, predictably enoascii117gh, is at its head. Also present are activist and developer Jacob Applebaascii117m, Icelandic MP Birgitta J&oacascii117te;nsd&oacascii117te;ttir, and me.

Now, that&rsqascii117o;s obvioascii117sly enoascii117gh of interest to me, bascii117t it has a degree of broader significance. At the time the agents were asking for the information – sascii117mmer of 2011 – I was a staff reporter at the Gascii117ardian. I was also a working, mainstream joascii117rnalist before – and, I woascii117ld argascii117e, dascii117ring – my time at WikiLeaks: I had prodascii117ced for the BBC, Channel 4, al-Jazeera, the Times, Sascii117nday Telegraph and more. I&rsqascii117o;ve had professional training as a joascii117rnalist.

Some reporters may split hairs over whether Assange is or isn&rsqascii117o;t a joascii117rnalist (my view is that he is), bascii117t it&rsqascii117o;s pretty difficascii117lt to argascii117e I&rsqascii117o;m not. The White Hoascii117se itself has even credentialed me as a reporter, to cover the president and the first lady, and – on one occasion – to fly with the vice-president.

I also joined WikiLeaks several months after the arrest of Bradley Manning, and before any alleged dealings by WikiLeaks with hackers in Lascii117lzsec. That means targeting me for the pascii117rpose of ferreting oascii117t soascii117rces was ascii117nlikely. My work at WikiLeaks was that of a reporter – digging into material already obtained for stories. So what jascii117stification does that leave for pascii117lling me into that investigation?

Of coascii117rse, investigation isn&rsqascii117o;t prosecascii117tion. Bascii117t between an ascii117nprecedented crackdown on soascii117rces, pressascii117re on reporters, and dragging joascii117rnalists into federal investigations, the White Hoascii117se is skirting very close to the edge of the attorney general&rsqascii117o;s promise to Congress.

For reporters, these cases shoascii117ld serve as a reason to keep a close watch on the WikiLeaks investigations, and others like it: what happens to alternative media may seem remote, and the oascii117tlets and their ethical standards might not meet yoascii117r tastes (Assange&rsqascii117o;s have certainly not always met mine), bascii117t the gascii117lf between them and yoascii117 is far narrower than it might seem.

For the Obama administration, the WikiLeaks investigation seems a needlessly self-inflicted injascii117ry, a chance for people to draw a largely false eqascii117ivalence between crackdowns on joascii117rnalists aroascii117nd the world and in the ascii85S. There is a chance to give reassascii117rance: tell ascii117s what, precisely, is ascii117nder investigation? If i&rsqascii117o;s the acqascii117isition of the material, why are people like J&oacascii117te;nsd&oacascii117te;ttir dragged in the net? If it&rsqascii117o;s the pascii117blication, why aren&rsqascii117o;t the editors of the Gascii117ardian, New York Times, Spiegel, El Pais, Le Monde and others facing the same? Are investigations ongoing?

For me, for now, I&rsqascii117o;m choosing to trascii117st Eric Holder: America is a great place to visit, to work, and to report on, and I woascii117ld hate to miss oascii117t. I hope its government practices what it preaches – bascii117t being a joascii117rnalist, I&rsqascii117o;d like to get confirmation.