Hero journalist or irresponsible Russian stooge? Julian Assange, finally free after twelve years of detention, raises complicated questions about what journalism is, but fundamentally falls short of a truly Christian vision for accountability via the press, says journalist Tim Wyatt
Julian Assange is now a free man, safely ensconced back on his home soil of Australia. The hacker, whistleblower and activist has come to a surprise deal with the American authorities, which saw him plead guilty to one charge of violating the Espionage Act. In return, his time served in a British jail since 2019 was taken as sufficient punishment, and he was set free.
Assange has ignited fierce controversy ever since his Wikileaks website became world famous in 2010 for publishing huge troves of leaked classified US military and government documents. Washington called him a spy, others hailed him as a hero of free speech, a crusading journalist breaking a 21st Century Watergate.
12 years of (partly self-imposed) detention
Amid a swirl of controversy after his Wikileaks revelations, he fled into the Ecuadorian embassy in 2012 and spent seven years there claiming political asylum rather than be extradited to Sweden to face sexual assault charges. When he was finally evicted in 2019, he was imprisoned by the UK for breaching bail conditions and has spent years battling an extradition request from the United States.
The long-running saga is over, but it raises troubling questions for Christians about the place of journalism. Assange and Wikileaks definitely revealed some troubling truths about America’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (including a shocking video of soldiers shooting dead 18 civilians and journalists). But how they did it falls well beyond journalistic ethics.
Read more:
Julian Assange, whistleblowers, and the Christian case for journalism
How churches can embrace science
Mental health, stigma and the gospel
Can the Bible teach us anything about depression?
Good journalists exercise their power responsibly
Despite actual journalists he was working with pleading with him, Assange mostly refused to redact names and identifying details from the documents, putting real people at risk of murder in Afghanistan and Iraq for collaborating with the US authorities. When challenged on this, he reportedly said “informants had it coming to them” if they died because he’d published their names.
The diplomatic cables he put online without any editing or redactions also exposed a number of actual journalists, religious leaders, human rights advocates and political dissidents living under dangerous dictatorships around the world.
Contrary to what Assange and his supporters believe, simply publishing information that someone else wants to remain hidden does not make you a journalist, nor is it intrinsically virtuous. Dumping reams of classified documents on the internet is not journalism and neither is it responsible.
Journalists, especially those working in the arena of national security, hold immense power. What they reveal to the world can literally have life and death consequences. Therefore, honest and careful journalists do not simply automatically publish every scrap of information they gather. They sift through things carefully, considering if publication is or is not in the public interest.
They weigh up competing priorities, and the risks and benefits of something secret becoming known. They work hard to check their facts from multiple sources. They exercise their power responsibly.
Another fundamental tenet of journalism is fairness and impartiality. Assange instead seems to use his platform and influence to hurt his enemies and support his allies. He collaborated with Russian intelligence agencies during the 2016 election after they had hacked the Democratic Party’s emails, in an effort to hamper Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid and interfere with American democracy.
His political hostility to America blinds his judgement and makes him happy to ally with some of the world’s worst regimes, guilty of crimes Washington has never dreamed of, simply because they too are anti-American.
The continuing power of honest journalism
Many Christians would not have shed a tear to see Assange jailed in the US, but it is important not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Assange may have flunked the basic tenets of journalistic ethics, but there is an important place for proper, honest, fair investigative journalism and publishing leaked materials from whistleblowers.
Yes, journalists don’t always have a good reputation within the Church. Too many reporters and outlets fail to live up to their honourable codes of ethics and good intentions. Dishonest and unfair coverage has understandably left many deeply distrustful of the press and its place in our society.
However, Christians should still believe in whistleblowing-led journalism. Our faith and the Bible teach us clearly about how sin mars everyone, and we know that no government led by sinful people will always act with integrity. Therefore, it is important state officials concerned by their government’s actions can and do leak information the state would rather was kept secret.
Get access to exclusive bonus content & updates: register & sign up to the Premier Unbelievable? newsletter!
Journalism which upholds democracy and fights for justice is only possible if reporters are able to pry into dark corners the government would rather we did not look in. Hugely important stories in the past that have helped end injustice, which offends God have only been possible because brave individuals broke the rules and leaked evidence to fair-minded journalists willing to publish.
There are endless discussions about what exactly the public interest involves and who gets to define it, and fair-minded Christians and journalists will disagree. But despite Assange’s tainted legacy, we should continue to defend the rights of legitimate and impartial journalists to serve the public by finding out and publishing information responsibly and accurately, even when a government is keen to stop them.
The same is true for the Church, after all. It is no doubt embarrassing and even harmful for the Church’s witness when our dirty laundry is aired in public. But journalists who publish truthful and fair accounts of Christian leaders’ abuses, scandals and failures are actually serving the Church, whether they realise it or not.
Sin mars believers as much as everyone else and there will always be sin to root out of the Church. Regularly bringing it to light is uncomfortable but the only way to build safer structures, more accountability and enable us to do better next time.
A string of recent stories, including the Post Office Horizon debacle and the infected blood scandal, have only come to light because of diligent, public-minded journalists working with whistleblowers to expose injustice. For all his many flaws, Assange must not be allowed to poison this well.
The Church should continue to pray for more, real, responsible and God-honouring journalists, and governments should show restraint in how they pursue those who have leaked secrets or blown the whistle while seeking to uphold kingdom values.
Check out the full Matters of Life & Death show on this topic here.
Tim Wyatt is a freelance journalist and co-host of Matters of Life & Death.
