Shadow Elite: WikiLeaks: Irresponsible or Indispensable?

[WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange] argued that, when a regime's lines of internal communication are disrupted, the information flow among conspirators must dwindle, and that, as the flow approaches zero, the conspiracy dissolves. Leaks were an instrument of information warfare. - The New Yorker, June 6, 2010

The Huffington Post - This argument from Julian Assange, the force behind WikiLeaks and this week's massive Afghan war document leak, goes to the heart of one of the key findings of Janine's book Shadow Elite: that a new breed of power broker whose cachet is in their exclusive access to and control of official information (or information that once would have been official) has come to influence. These players use privatized information to advance their own agendas and those of their allies and networks, even while ostensibly working in the public interest.

WikiLeaks is a declared combatant in this information warfare: high-tech, good-government vigilantes. The group acts as the consummate outsider, a crucial role in the shadow elite era, willing to push the envelope because it stands squarely outside the established power structure. But just as this shadow elite upends traditional process and flouts institutions as it exerts influence, WikiLeaks has upended the old-fashioned venues of investigative journalism and watchdog organizations. Read more.