PEMBERTON, Ash. Differential treatment of WikiLeaks versus Murdoch’s News Ltd: "Jail Murdoch not Assange"

Ash Pemberton is an Australian writer (see: http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/48192 ) .

Ash Pemberton on WikiLeaks versus Murdoch’s News Ltd (2011): “When it comes to comparing the cases of two publishers of secret information — WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange and billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch — the hypocrisy from politicians and media is huge… Murdoch has already closed News of the World — the tabloid at the centre of the scandal — and will likely have to sacrifice a few editors to satisfy public outrage. But given his obscene wealth and power to make or break politicians, Murdoch’s empire will use its enormous resources to try to isolate the scandal and come out with the empire more or less intact… Unlike Murdoch’s, WikiLeaks’ motivation was admirable: to expose lies and human rights abuses, and to make powerful people accountable for the decisions they make behind closed doors.Unlike NOTW, WikiLeaks stole nothing: the secret US cables it published were given to it by an anonymous source, alleged to be US soldier Bradley Manning. The key difference between the two is obvious — one seeks to challenge the establishment, the other exerts huge control over it.” [1].

[1]. Ash Pemberton, “WikiLeaks vs News Ltd: Jail Murdoch not Assange”, Green Left Weekly, 16 July 2011: http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/48192 .