ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY                                                                     WORD COUNT: 537

1- “The links that bind: WikiLeaks, Twitter, and the Julian Assange case” by Christian Christensen

Justification

The contemporary activist that will be focused upon in the final essay is “Julian Assange”.  This article will support the essay because it will help demonstrate the link between WikiLeaks and Assange’s Activism.

Summary Thesis:

Over the past decade, Julian Assange and his organization WikiLeaks has moved from being a little-known group of hackers into one of the most famous whistleblowing and activist websites in the world.

Summary:

Over the past decade, Julian Assange and his organization WikiLeaks has moved from being a little-known group of hackers into one of the most famous whistleblowing websites in the world. Christensen (2016) states that “Despite claims that @WikiLeaks is run by Julian Assange, Assange himself denies this, saying that @WikiLeaks is simply the official organization account, and that it “speaks” only for WikiLeaks” (Christensen 2016).  Assange has made these statements in order to attempt to have the charges dropped from him, which he accumulated from various claims for hacking with WikiLeaks and also allegations of rape against himself, while he waits in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. “WikiLeaks has been a regular object of study over the past decade, with a significant volume of research having come after the 2010 release of the so-called Iraq and Afghanistan “War Logs.”” (Christensen 2016). Christensen’s statement regarding the study of WikiLeaks and Assange raises the ideas that Assange is the sole operator behind WikiLeaks, 2010 being the time in which he was inside the Ecuadorian Embassy. Christensen also refers to Assange as an information activist through the ideas that Assange has created the site in order to create a freedom of information throughout the world and hide no secrets of the government.

Christensen settles his argument suggestive that Assange is the sole operator of WikiLeaks, stating that, “When the tweets from @WikiLeaks are examined, a clear pattern emerges in relation to the subject and tone of the tweets, as well as the type of links used to add depth and information to the short messages.” (Christensen 2016). Christensen continues to suggest that Assange is truly at the base of WikiLeaks.

Critical Analysis

Christensen’s argument is reinforced by the credibility of his high level of qualifications as the “professor of journalism studies at Stockholm University” (The Guardian 2018), the circumstance that his article was printed in a highly distinguished and regarded journal that has been around for over 16 years and that he portrays a well thought-out point.  While Christensen’s main point is reinforced by his credibility, his illustration of Assange was prejudiced through his personal involvement with previous work connected to Assange in 2015, and his own private views, which later came out in his work, towards Assange’s case.

Reference

Christensen, Christian. 2016. ” The links that bind: WikiLeaks, Twitter, and the Julian Assange case” in Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture, 14:4, 224-237.

Guardian, The. 2018. Christian Christensen Profile – The Guardian Australia. https://www.theguardian.com/profile/christian-christensen.