Project for Excellence in Journalism

Blogs: [Acronym Deleted]

December 29, 2010

Espousing a unique mix of politics, technology, free speech and transparency, WikiLeaks has captured the attention of bloggers in a way few stories ever do. It has been a focus of social media conversation for three weeks this month alone, with a discussion that moved from one dimension to the next. After centering on political blame, the value of exposing government secrets and the importance of a free press, the debate took on yet a new angle last week.

For the week of Dec. 20-24, more than a third (35%) of the news links on blogs were about the controversy, making it the No. 1 subject, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Most of the conversation last week, however, focused on an investigation launched by the CIA. But rather than discussing the consequences of such an inquiry, bloggers centered on the name of the panel -- the WikiLeaks Task Force -- which resulted in the acronym WTF -- a phrase more commonly known for its usage as part of internet slang.

"And the most aptly named task force ever, award goes to ... drum roll please ... Wikileaks Task Force a.k.a WTF," joked Word Vomit. "Personally I could care less but how freaking cool would it be to flash a badge and say WTF mate?!"*

"What impact the WTF will have in this very broad debate over Wikileaks remains to be seen," added Drew Wilson at Zero Paid. "In the mean time, I'll be trying not to laugh every time WTF is brought up for the next little while -- a challenging task to say the least."

"I'd imagine the CIA wouldn't be having so much fun with this issue if their files were caught up in the Wikileaks backwash, but the CIA refused to put its information on SIPRNET and spared itself the damage," wrote Ron Hogan at Popular Fidelity.

Another discussed element this week was the BBC interview with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Most bloggers came to Assange's defense -- criticizing the interview as overly personal and expressing disbelief in the sex crimes accusations Assange is facing.

In previous weeks, the overwhelming position online has been in support of WikiLeaks and the notion of transparency. That subtext pervaded last week as well despite the criminal charges facing the controversial figure.

"The interviewer is SO obnoxious you want to knock his block off," complained neufneuf referring to the personal nature of some of the questions asked of Assange.

"In the BBC's interview with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, we learn that he's a martyr, a player, a gentleman, perfectly happy with himself, and oh yes -- people associated with Wikileaks have been assassinated. The interviewer doesn't even blink at that one; no follow-up question," noted Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs.

While not the major focus for bloggers, some supporters of WikiLeaks expressed their belief that Assange was innocent of the charges.

"It should go without saying that I do not approve of Assange's behavior if the allegations against him are true. Nevertheless, I still believe the allegations are very convenient for the powers that be," declared Sky Dancing.

"Many people have noted that one can support WikiLeaks as an organization without supporting Assange as an individual, and that's certainly true," argued The Freedom Bulletin. "But I support both.... Although obviously not the most pure and chaste person in the world, he is brave, intelligent, principled, and honorable ... and not a rapist."

"Julian Assange of WikiLeaks has my vote for the 2010 Sexiest Man Alive," pronounced Lothlaurien's Lore. "Because he is a freedom fighter. It doesn't get any sexier than freedom."

In previous weeks, the overwhelming position online has been in support of WikiLeaks and the notion of transparency That subtext pervaded last week as well despite the criminal charges facing the controversial figure.

The second largest subject on blogs, with 15% of the links, was the Senate's passage of a bill to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy requiring gay and lesbian troops to conceal their sexual orientation. Bloggers overwhelmingly cheered the action as a positive step against discrimination.

The third largest story, with 9% of the week's links, was another story featuring free speech online. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez defended his plans to impose broadcast-like regulations on the internet. Critics charge that the rules will restrict freedoms.

Fourth (at 7%) was a Washington Post article about an environmental study that found the probable carcinogen hexavalent chromium in the drinking water of 31 out of 35 major cities examined.

That was followed by another Washington Post story (at 6%) about the administration's actions surrounding Guantanamo Bay.

On the social networking site Twitter, the future of news media, social networking and gadgetry were the major subjects of conversation.

Continue reading the full report at journalism.org.

_{*For the sake of authenticity, PEJ has a policy of not correcting misspellings or grammatical errors that appear in direct quotes from blog postings.}