A Media Intervention for Wikileaks

Keeping it FUN: We will have a table with art materials and printed cables that you can decorate as part of the http://cablegatecoloringbook.com/

This is part of a global day of action, with demonstrations in Australia, Canada, Europe, and across the US.

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Since its release of about 2000 diplomatic cables (as of January 7th, 2011), Wikileaks has been subject to extraordinary pressures, seemingly at the behest of the US government. Amazon and EveryDNS have denied Wikileaks internet service and Visa, Mastercard, Paypal, and Bank of America have been prevented supporters from donating money to Wikileaks. This is despite the fact that Wikileaks has not even been charged with a crime.

Unfortunately, the situation has gotten even worse. The press has been spreading lies about Wikileaks. Mainstream media outlets do not appear to be doing even the most rudimentary fact-checking. The most blatant of these lies is the idea that Wikileaks has “indiscriminately dumped 250,000 cables on the internet”. This is flat-out false. A few news organizations, including NPR and InformationWeek, have corrected this mistake, and NPR has even offered an apology. By contrast, most news organizations ranging from the AP to the Wall Street Journal continue to print this falsehood.

We call upon all news organizations to correct previous articles and statements, to issue apologies to their readers, and to take steps to prevent this mistake from occurring in any future articles and shows.

We will be protesting outside the TransAmerica pyramid, across from a San Francisco office of the New York Times, on Saturday, January 15th, at 4pm. On that day, we will be joining in protesting against the repression of Wikileaks with many others around the world, including Washington, DC, and several cities in Canada and Australia.

To counter the New York Times’s censorship of reality, we plan to publish the released cables on the walls of their building. In addition, participants will be provided cable printouts and markers and encouraged to throw down their artistic abilities by adding a graphic representation of their favorite cable to the Cablegate Coloring Book.

References:
[1] 8 Smears and Misconceptions About WikiLeaks Spread By the Media
http://www.alternet.org/story/149369/8_smears_and_misconceptions_about_wikileaks_spread_by_the_media/

[2] NPR Fesses Up to WikiLeaks’ Coverage Blunder, Now It’s Everyone Else’s Turn
http://lippmannwouldroll.com/2010/12/28/npr-fesses-up-to-wikileaks-coverage-blunder-now-its-everyone-elses-turn/