Joel Simon at Nieman questions the complicated distinction between journalism and activism in our digital era of news gathering and delivery: "As the volume, complexity, and speed of information increased, the process of defining journalism has become more and more unwieldy. The trend has accelerated in the last several years, with the explosion of social media and its increasing use to accomplish basic journalism: documenting events and disseminating information to the public."
Highlighting the role of WikiLeaks, Simon examines how the new breed on digital watchdogs relate to traditional ideas about journalism ethics and the legal protection of journalistic practices: "Although the question of whether Julian Assange is a journalist is interesting, it’s not ultimately resolvable or even that relevant. The real question is whether Assange and WikiLeaks are part of the new global information ecosystem in which journalists operate. Here the answer is clearly yes. And the other important question is whether prosecuting Assange under the Espionage Act would threaten that system. Here again the answer is yes." Read the full article.
