After setting up an account on Zotero, a free cloud-based research tool that allows you to gather, organize and share articles and research, I begin my search using Google News for three news media sources that focus on Wikileaks. There were thousands of search results, so I decided to utilize the advanced search function which tells Google to return news articles by specific location. As this activity specifies one Canadian, one American, and one international news piece, I wanted to find articles that were from uncommon news sources. I.e.: No articles from the Globe and Mail or the New York Times. Here are my findings:
Canada
“US saw mafia-ridden Italian region as ‘failed state,’ according to WikiLeaks cable” - The Canadian Press
A United States diplomatic cable labelled the Italian state of Calabria a ‘failed state’ that is comprised of corrupt politicians, drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering and other gang-related activities. The cable, from 2008, was written before the Italian government started cracking down on gang-related crimes. A spokeswoman from the U.S. Embassy in Rome said that the cables were woefully out of date and much progress has been made since they were written.
While the cable might be out of date, it still points to the fact that the United States called Calabria a ‘failed state’. While the cable doesn’t ‘attack’ Italy politically, the article includes a quote from Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, who took office in May 2008 after Premier Silvio Berlusconi came to power. Maroni points to the progress being made, dismissing the significance of the cables. Italy has admitted in their response to this leak that there were, and still are problems present in Calabria, and that they are working hard to fix those problems.
United States
“FBI searching for WikiLeaks’ ‘hacktivists’ allies” – The Miami Herald
The FBI has served over 40 search warrants in the United States as part of an investigation on the hacking of websites belonging to corporations that stopped providing services to Wikileaks. The FBI plans to prosecute for their actions that ultimately support Wikileaks. The attacks, which took down the websites of Visa, Mastercard, and Paypal, among others, did no long term damage and only lasted for a few hours at the most. Before these warrants were served, the only known criminal investigation resulting from the leak of the cable documents was the one that ties Bradley Manning to the actual leaking of the files.
In my opinion, this article seemed very neutral. The article does not discredit or support the FBI or the individual hackers. It does say, however, that FBI officials were unavailable for comment, meaning the organization probably did not return calls for more information from the Miami Herald. The article does not comment on Wikileaks itself, but mentions that the UK has arrested five teenagers involved in the hacking. There seems to be no political imbalance in this article.
Azerbaijan
“Swiss whistleblower hands bank data to WikiLeaks” – The Azeri Press Agency
Rudolf Elmer, a former Swiss private banker with Julius Baer, handed over private data on hundreds of offshore bank account holders to Wikileaks. Elmer states that he wants to bring financial abuses and hidden offshore accounts to the public’s attention. Wikileaks will take a couple of weeks to leak the data, and may hand some of the data over to Britain’s Serious Fraud Office, Julian Assange was quoted as saying. The bank released a statement indicating that the goal of Elmer’s activities is to discredit Julius Baer as well as clients in the eyes of the public.
This article seems very anti-Julius Baer, indicating that the bank uses corrupt methods to hide offshore accounts. It also seems to have a pro-Wikileaks stance, as it indicates that Wikileaks may hand over the data to the British Serious Fraud Office, indicating that the organization will do good things by bringing this information to government authorities. The article includes a quote that states Julius Baer has denounced Elmer and the leaking of the files, but it seems like the author did not allow the bank to defend itself in this article.
Articles Cited (Using Zotero)
Mark Seibel. “FBI searching for WikiLeaks’ ‘hacktivists’ allies.” The Miami Herald 27 Jan. 2011. Web. 28 Jan. 2011.
Nicole Winfield. “US saw mafia-ridden Italian region as ‘failed state,’ according to WikiLeaks cable.” The Canadian Press 13 Jan. 2011. Web. 27 Jan. 2011.
Unknown Author. “Swiss whistleblower hands bank data to WikiLeaks.” The Azeri Press Agency 18 Jan. 2011. Web. 28 Jan. 2011.