Blog #11

 EOTO 2: What I Learned

Blog #11

For the second EOTO presentation, my group was labeled "media-sphere" so we focused on different forms of media including online influencers, alternative media, and mainstream media. The
topic that was most intriguing to me was the whistle blowers, presented by Hope.

We began to discuss whistle blowers during an earlier class when we watched the Assange video with the murders of Namir and Saeed. If you don't know what a whistle blower is, here's how I look at it; it's like a snitch but in a robin hood way. What I'm trying to say is these are people who hold very important and secret information that they then leak in order to get justice for whoever is involved. Assange was considered a whistleblower after releasing the WikiLeaks video and sharing. private American information. Examples of common whistle blowing tasks is employees who report corruption, discrimination, harassment, and fraud.  

Whistleblowers are probably some of the most hated but feared people. They are protected by a network of laws, but the level of protection depends on what they are leaking, this being said it is not always in the whistleblowers best interest to work with the press. If something is leaked that the government is working hard to hide, the repercussions can outweigh the rewards.

However despite having some type of protection, it is important for these whistleblowers to know their rights and how far the protection will go. Personally I think the most important thing a whistleblower needs to do is protect his/her anonymity. Remaining anonymous is a big part of the fairness of whistleblowing. These are people trying to fight for justice and do what is right so if they are exposed for whistleblowing, they can lose EVERYTHING. For example, Bradley Manning was. imprisoned for seven years for. whistleblowing, only to be pardoned by Barack Obama as he left office.