Julian Assange: Within Washington’s grasp?

Is journalism at risk or is it personal? Plus, the Polish priest whose mini media empire packs a political punch.

Assange: Within Washington’s grasp?
When WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was forced out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London last week, the debates that appeared on the airwaves, online and in print went to the core of what constitutes journalism.

Assange’s supporters denounced his arrest as an assault on freedom of information; a potential threat for journalists around the world who expose secrets in the public interest.

Others maintain that WikiLeaks traffics in raw data, not news stories – that Assange does not deserve the legal protection that real journalists get.

Look beyond the law, however, and you will find there is no escaping the politics of this story – and the mainstream media’s own role in it.