Blog Post #9

 

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The term whistleblower, first used in the 1950s, refers to "an individual who, without authorization, reveals private or classified information about an organization, usually related to wrongdoing or misconduct."  The term represents a referee or policeman blowing a whistle to symbolize an illegal act. Whistleblowers have the public interest at heart in order to bring awareness to an issue when nothing else is being done. 

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One of the most historic whistleblowers is Daniel Ellsberg, the famous Pentagon Papers whistleblower. In 1971, Ellsberg "leaked portions of a classified 7,000-page report that detailed the history of U.S. intervention in Indochina from World War II until 1968." Ultimately, these reports were known as the Pentagon Papers. Ellsberg made copies of the reports and leaked them to the New York Times which published them revealing that the government was lying about the war's success in Vietnam. Another famous whistleblower who decided to break confidentiality for the overall interest of the public was Edward Snowden (a National Security Agency employee). In 2013, Snowden worked with The Guardian to reveal information outing the government (specifically the National Security Act) for spying on its citizens. 

 

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Whistleblowers justify whistleblowing by saying the public interest outweighs the government interest at play. In both the cases above, the public interest outweighed the government interest as the government was hiding information from the people or overstepping. In order to whistleblow one should have tried other ways to bring about change, have evidence and good reasoning, and accomplish some form of public good by whistleblowing. While it is thought to be morally obligatory to speak up when you see something wrong, "it is only in rare instances that the law required an individual to act to prevent harm."

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When someone decides to whistleblow, they have to be okay with the punishment that may follow it. There have been various whistleblower protection acts put into place (some set up such as the witness protection program), but they have proved unsuccessful. Snowden knew he was going to get in trouble and while he originally was anonymous, three days after the story was released regarding wiretapping, he came out as the whistleblower but said he did not want the story to be about him but rather the issue at hand. It is a fine line for journalists to reveal information that the public should know without affecting national security. It is important for citizens to know what is happening in a society, but knowing too much could cause fear, hence the fine line. There's a reason why the government chooses to keep some things from its citizens. 

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Overall, "the ability of a democratic citizenry to access the working of its government is equally essential
and constitutive of its functioning." If the American government was not somewhat transparent then we would not have a functioning democracy as the people are an essential part of a democracy as it is a government for the people and by the people. 

Sources:

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Pentagon Papers". Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Oct. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pentagon-Papers. Accessed 27 November 2023.

Harwood, William H. "Secrecy, transparency and government whistleblowing." Philosophy & Social Criticism 43.2 (2017): 164-186.

Kleinig, John. "whistleblower". Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 Nov. 2023,               https://www.britannica.com/topic/whistleblower. Accessed 27 November 2023.

Schiemann, Robert, et al. “Wikileaks and Whistleblowing.” Wikileaks and Whistleblowing, Stanford,cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs201/projects/2010-11/WikiLeaks/index-2.html. Accessed 27 Nov. 2023.