WikiLeaks Verges On Gossip Territory

With guest host Jane Clayson.

WikiLeaks was instrumental on NSA spying and Iraq War scandal. Has it now gone to gossip?

WikiLeaks is at it again. This time publishing all of the documents hacked from Sony last November. Thirty thousand documents. Two hundred thousand private emails. And it’s not all business. Personal stuff like Amazon purchases, medical records, salaries are out there online.  For everyone’s eyes. WikiLeaks famously blew the whistle on big government and a snooping NSA. Now is it a gossip rag? In this technology age, can we assume any privacy when we post, tweet, buy, share? This hour On Point: WikiLeaks, and what’s at stake for privacy, security, and journalism.
-- Jane Clayson

Michael Cohen, columnist for the Boston Globe. Fellow at the Century Foundation. Author of "Live From The Campaign Trail." (@speechboy71)

John Cook, executive editor for investigations at Gawker Media. (@johnjcook)

Paul Rosenzweig, law professor at the George Washington University. (@RosenzweigP)

Boston Globe: Where’s the WikiLeaks outrage? — "If Wikileaks were merely revealing hidden truths about a company’s vast influence on politics, perhaps the group would be on solid ground. Some media outlets, including the Globe, have noted ways the leaked e-mails shed light on our relationship with history and race. The problem is that surrounding these needles of information is a giant haystack of Sony employees, whose private information is now being splashed all over the Internet."

Gawker: WikiLeaks Put the Entire Sony Hack Online for You To Read -- "It was only a few months ago that one of Earth's most powerful corporations was laid low by a band of still-unidentified hackers. We pulled out the most interesting revelations, but maybe Sony's ridiculous legal threats spooked you away from sifting for yourself—now you can."

Rolling Stone: WikiLeaks Publishes Over 30,000 Documents From Sony Hack — "The emails they cite show employees at Sony discussing ongoing lobbying efforts (particularly regarding issues of copyright, piracy and international trade) and the lawsuit against Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom. Other emails show people within the company organizing fundraisers for New York governor Andrew Cuomo and CEO Michael Lynton planning a golf game with President Obama. They also document exchanges between the studio and Rand Corporation, a government-financed military thinktank which includes Lynton on its board of trustees."