Yes it's true that journalism is getting very bad in the US, it's a combination of political and economic pressure. Over 20,000 journalism jobs have been eliminated since the 90s.
My personal theory is that he's probably an asset who turned on his handlers to some degree. Here's some interesting info:
- He was in a fascist doomsday cult as a kid called "The Family," see pic
theguardian.com/film/2016/nov/20/growing-up-with-the-family-inside-anne-hamilton-byrnes-sinister-cult
he denies heavy interaction with them, but I'm skeptical.
- The original Wikileaks mission statement plainly states that their goal is regime change in NATO-targeted countries:
web.archive.org/web/20070701115545/http://wikileaks.org/
"Our primary interests are oppressive regimes in Asia, the former Soviet bloc, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, but we also expect to be of assistance to those in the west who wish to reveal unethical behavior in their own governments and corporations."
"If a document comes from the Chinese government, the entire Chinese dissident community can freely scrutinize and discuss it; if a document arrives from Iran, the entire Farsi community can analyze it and put it in context."
Even later (and to this day) Assange maintains he wants to leak documents from China and similar targeted countries:
blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/01/13/wikileaks-founder-our-enemy-is-china/
However, he hasn't leaked much from those countries as far as I know, apparently a failure in that regard.
- However he has personally taken credit for Arab Spring, which he and many media pundits claim was inspired by leaks. I'm doubtful the extent that Wikileaks actually facilitated either organic or CIA-directed rebellions.
- Assange has a history of working with police and getting out of prison early:
In September 1991, Assange was discovered hacking into the Melbourne master terminal of Nortel, a Canadian multinational telecommunications corporation.[27] The Australian Federal Police tapped Assange's phone line (he was using a modem), raided his home at the end of October,[46] and eventually charged him in 1994 with thirty-one counts of hacking and related crimes.[27] In December 1996, he pleaded guilty to twenty-five charges (the other six were dropped), was ordered to pay reparations of A$2,100 and released on a good behaviour bond,[44][47] avoiding a heavier penalty resulting from the perceived absence of malicious or mercenary intent and his disrupted childhood.[47][48][49][50][51][excessive citations]
theage.com.au/national/victoria/assange-helped-our-police-catch-child-pornographers-20110211-1aqnl.html
Attached: thefamilyassange.jpg (304x230, 86.56K)