Can You Keep a Secret? Media Rights and the Need to Know

Sally Warhaft, Peter Cronau and Scott Ludlam in conversation on stage at Bendigo Writers Festival.

Why is WikiLeaks so important? What is there to be learned from the documents released? According to the writers in A Secret Australia, the leaking of hidden government documents yielded knowledge that is essential for journalists and institutions to analyse the consequences of covert and unaccountable state power. “We open governments” is WikiLeaks’ motto, yet its crusade for transparent, accountable government has led to criminal charges being laid against its founder, Julian Assange, and whistleblower Chelsea Manning. Assange now faces espionage and hacking-related charges from the US government.

A Secret Australia’s co-editor Peter Cronau and contributor and former Greens Senator Scott Ludlam joined Sally Warhaft at Bendigo Writers Festival earlier this year for a discussion about what is kept from public view and why. What are the limits of journalism when reporting on state apparatuses, and what is a publisher’s responsibility when dealing with state secrets?

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Presented in partnership with Bendigo Writers Festival

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