<nettime-ann> Call for Papers and Artworks: WIKILEAKS: JOURNALISM, POLITICS AND ETHICS

[Jacob Johanssen <jacob@cyborgsubjects.org>]

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Ever since the creation of Wikipedia, Wiki-based systems have helped articulate a huge range of collaborative public information platforms, and have sparked debates regarding the practical importance of social media and the cultural political influences of large online populations.

Arguably, one particular website has since made an even stronger impact. In 2010, WikiLeaks released countless U.S. embassy diplomatic cables (creating what some already refer to as the ‘Cablegate’ affair), as well as classified reports and top secret footage extracted from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
These unprecedented developments ignited a lively international debate involving politicians, journalists and members of the public, raising questions and concerns about Wikileaks’ short and long term political, legal, ethical and logistical effects.

On the one hand, Wikileaks shocked the international diplomatic community and brought up issues of national security and censorship. Simultaneously, media experts started exploring what Wikileaks might mean for (the future of) journalism and how it might change the role of the Internet in news reporting. Wikileaks also brought to the table issues concerning the boundaries of digital journalism and raised questions about how news reporting is done in an age of digital communications, particularly in what the functions of ‘whistleblowers’ and online leaks are concerned.

Journalists have therefore begun to reconsider their roles, professional standards and communicational practices. Conversely, legal actors and politicians pointed out the need for legal constrictions that would either silence or marginalise Wikileaks, as well as other similar online platforms in the future. This in turn raises questions regarding the freedom of speech, and accusations that these institutional claims for privacy, data protection and national security may compromise the free circulation of (online/offline) information.

Cyborg Subjects (www.cyborgsubjects.org) takes great pleasure and active interest in placing these issues at the core of its next project. We invite all interested authors to send full-length articles (3000 words maximum), short commentaries (500-800 words), interviews or book reviews (1000-1500 words) to submissions@cyborgsubjects.org. Artworks, Videos, Performances, etc. related to the topic are also very welcome.

Contributions may wish to report, comment on or review theoretical and empirical insights into topics such as the following (and beyond):

•What is the relationship between the most recent Wikileaks and the recent uprisings in the Arab world?
•Why has Wikileaks provoked such a huge amount of controversy and international reaction?
• What are the main legal and ethical issues raised by Wikileaks?
•Wikileaks: freedom of speech and the right to information. Where is the line drawn? Does this line even exist?
• Wikileaks: privacy, online data protection and national security.
• What are the implications of Wikileaks for the study and conceptualizing of new media journalism and political communication?
• Is Wikileaks a journalistic organization? Can Wikileaks be considered investigative journalism?
• How does Wikileaks challenge traditional journalistic standards?
• What type of media activism is served by Wikileaks?
• What is the role of ‘whistleblowers’ in Wikileaks (e.g. the case of Bradley Manning)?
•What are the policy implications of the extrajudicial tactics deployed to censor Wikileaks?
• What does the collaboration between WikiLeaks and traditional newspapers have to say about the future of mass media technologies?
• How is Wikileaks’ editor in chief, Julian Assange, significant as a public figure? How, and by whom is he being ‘sanctified’ or ‘demonized’?

• What is significant (feminist, post-feminist and/or non-feminist discussions welcome) about Julian Assange's accusations of rape, in the midst of the WikiLeaks international scandal?
• How can researchers (ethically) deal with data published by WikiLeaks?

• How ‘unexpected’ were the insights revealed by Wikileaks? Do they defy, or merely confirm public expectations of what goes on behind political façades?

We invite all those interested to send their full contribution (including a 150‑200 word abstract) to submissions@cyborgsubjects.org, by June 6, 2011. Contributors are free to use any reference style systems (e.g., APA, Harvard etc), as long as they are consistent in how they cite their sources throughout the article, and use endnotes, rather than footnotes, for citations.

 

Cyborg Subjects offers a radical and new review system. We believe that knowledge should be free and that the process of knowledge production should not be obfuscated by the less transparent, “knowledge is power” peer review system associated with traditional academic journals. Therefore, submitted articles will be published as they come in and reviews will be posted as comments. Authors are asked to engage in the ensuing discussion and to comment on the review, as well as on other individuals’ (potential) reactions to the article.

Feel free to visit www.cyborgsubjects.org to find out more! You can also find us on Facebook (http://fb.com/cyborgsubjects) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/cyborgsubjects).

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