Erstellt am: 11. 12. 2010 - 12:46 Uhr
Today's Webtip: Facts and FUD
While reading a dead tree copy of a regional news organization I was dumbfounded by a front page editorial on the Wikileaks situation. Viktor Hermann, Chefredakteur-Stellvertreter und Ressortleiter Außenpolitik at the Salzburger Nachrichten, seems to be a bit confused about the the nature of the DDoS attacks that were directed against businesses that refused service to Wikileaks: mein.salzburg.com
I know the idea of Anonymous might be a bit difficult for some people to wrap their heads around, but blaming their actions on Wikileaks itself seems to be going a bit beyond poor reading comprehension skills. I know that it's not impossible, because some old school media houses have at least tried to get a grip on the movement behind the mask: bbc.co.uk
To be fair, the very nature of Anonymous makes it nearly impossible to get any trustworthy statements, and the love of lulz makes any inquisitive reporter a potential victim of manipulation. That's still no excuse to lay the blame for the attacks on the people behind Wikileaks and to accuse them of being no better than the Mafia.
Still, things are worse on the other side of the pond. In the land of the free and the home of the brave, the call for Assange's head continues, and many media outlets are happy to echo politicians assertions that Wikileaks is basically a terrorist organization. Arguments that are also based on something less than the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Glenn Greenwald has been busy following the media coverage of Cablegate, and has a rather concise summary of the bad information that is being passed as fact. He also explains why that might be a very bad thing indeed: salon.com