Of Hacktivism, Hackers and Leakers: Resetting the Bar of Real World Journalism.

by Brett Redmayne-Titley

In a world of slanted journalism that pervades not only main stream media offerings but also the majority of “progressive” and “alternative” media, it is the hackers and leakers of vital information that are now providing a new and desperately needed return to real journalism. Recent examples of courage and risk in pursuit of full disclosure which counters media distortions of fact, must be followed. Hackers and leakers are- as shown this month- providing the public service mandate once enveloped within the vaunted parchment of the First Amendment- an obligation far too long forgotten.
America is the origin of media lies and a willfully ignorant public that believes them. Strangely, most US citizens wallow only in the proffered world of gray journalism- one that wraps the truth and the mind of the reader, instead, in the flag of nationalist colors. Thus stubbornly adhering only to their predisposed personal opinion, one belies demonstrative evidence to the contrary, this malady is shown, at least, in the irrational national adulation for two very flawed current presidential candidates. This opinion ignores an obviously controlled media that is promoting one candidate (using lies) while viciously attacking the other (using lies). This past month, repeatedly hackers and leakers across the globe have smashed America’s mindless and too regularly used false talisman: America is “exceptional” and therefore US democracy is functioning normally. Really?
The remaining free world should be holding up many hackers as strong examples of moral, social and geopolitical outrage, as once they did the forgotten journalists of a similar dedication. In a modern world dominated by a media establishment that universally propagates a false set of mistruths to their fawning audience, Americans happily exist in this realm of deliberately obfuscated gray. The willfully ignorant wrap themselves in this insular, flag-draped shelter of their singular and fraudulently produced opinion, hence it takes a cold, hard slap across the face, in repetition, before Americans suddenly emerge from the hard chrysalis of media control. This journalistic malignancy grows by the lies it tells or, more often, the truth deliberately edited out. In an apathetic and disaffected society, rarely does an American step outside their field of gray and investigate, via the very few but easily found news services that regularly fill-in this gap, the complete story. Today’s hackers and leakers aspire to the correct news reporting tenants; those of Mencken, Murrow, Cronkite, Halberstam, Greene, Thompson, Thomas…
This last month, thanks to a plethora of hacks and leaks, has been an epiphany for many Americans and a vindication for good journalists too easily minimized regardless of their careful presentation of fact. Like the bloody photographic reality of an Israeli murdered Palestinian child or video horror of dismembered US Afghan drone victims, this month’s hacks and leaks have torn to shreds volumes of previously authored gray media scat.
A partial review of this month’s myth busting by Hactivists is thus in order
George Soros made the list several times, solidifying his now-proven position as the worldwide public enemy #1. New leaks confirmed what good journalists have repeated for more than two years: that Soros was directly tied to the Ukrainian/ Maidan Square coup. Leaked documents prove the immense power and control Soros had over Ukraine’s government immediately following the illegal Maidan government overthrow. Soros’ pre-Maidan involvement is thus no longer deniable.
But Soros is not content with ruining only one foreign democracy. This new world order Zionist has also been using his billions to restrict internet access to information for those who do not meet his ongoing definition. Thanks to Obama’s allegiance to Soros, on Oct 1, 2016 internet control will pass from the federal US National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to the private Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers [ICANN], whose true upcoming allegiance would seem equally as obvious. Can America become any more ignorant? If Soros has his way, the answer will be, “Yes!”
Thanks to the 2,500 documents recently released by DC Leaks, we now know that George Soros is funding the legal fees as part of his stated goal to “enlarge” the U.S. electorate by at least 10 million voters” by election 2018. The Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) is part of the agenda of Soros’ Open Society Foundations, his secretive network of political organizations.
It was also revealed that Soros and his Open Society Foundations continue to purchase American democracy for themselves by actively funding the election campaigns of state and federal judges. A new definition of Soros-brand “justice” is currently being unleashed on an already corrupt US judicial system.
Considering this month’s collective indictment of Soros, his plans now laid bare, it would seem high time for the anger and hatred, currently multi-directed and misguided across the nation, to be properly re-focused. Should Soros finally meet justice at the hands of a properly enlightened and thus outraged public, it will be due to a very small subset of the world’s reporters of news.
Hillary Clinton. Bill Clinton. The Clinton Foundation. Lighting these gray shadows came the leaked documentary evidence that shows her presidential campaign to be the fraudulent side-show distraction that many good journalists have analyzed it be. Reams of information was leaked this month and thanks to those who chose a higher authority than MSM, further criminality on the part of the democratic candidate is now absolutely clear. According to leading establishment nemesis, Julian Assange, recent releases are merely “teasers” with a treasure trove worthy of an FBI-or journalistic- indictment to be released in batches, “soon”. Considering the mounting pile of criminal allegations against DNC candidate Clinton, and her blatant lies in attempting to explain away same, it remains to be seen, soon, how much trust the voters will still have for her… on Nov.8.
We now know that US President Obama has been just as impotent with his foreign policy demands as with his eight year milquetoast methods used on the US population. In a previous article it was suggested that Obama lacked any traditional Political Capital, hence resorting to mere bribery. With regard to Iran, leaks show this to be true, as are the allegations that he sent $400 million in hard cold cash as “ransom” for several hostages. Such is Obama’s presidential power.
But the best came last, as “The Shadow Brokers” hacked and released legitimate hacking tools from the NSA’s own special-ops entity, the “Equation Group.” While it is debatable whether this was a hack or a leak by a new NSA whistleblower, regardless, when the NSA’s own elite top-of-the-line IT op is itself breached, that is one very stiff middle finger at Uncle Sam’s cyber arrogance. It is also an implicit promise of very good things to come.
Those who hack and those who leak documentary evidence of the world’s evil conspirators are helping rid the world of the endemic danger of invalid, mindless opinions. These backstage players must be now acknowledged for what they are: Journalists. Damn good reporters of vital news. In the current war against media lies and their fraudulent, manipulating effect on opinion, like the front-line, hard-nosed news men of old, the work of these anonymous cyber-heroes shows a dedication to the full truth in a world of half-truths of gray; a dedication to a higher moral standard in the face of an amoral world; and a dedication to both these two mandates despite little reward and serious risk to personal and family freedoms. Yes…journalists!
Before this month’s revelations, a higher moral ground was clearly defined by the hackers who leaked the names of millions of members of the Ashley Madison web-site. In July 2015, a group calling itself “The Impact Team” stole the user data of Ashley Madison, a commercial website billed as enabling extramarital affairs. The group copied personal information about the site’s user base and threatened to release users’ names and personal identifying information if Ashley Madison was not immediately shut down. When Ashley Madison called their bluff, on 18 and 20 August, the group leaked more than 25 gigabytes of company data, including the user details. These once anonymous web-site members were as guilty as Clinton or Soros, but this time of the charge of adultery. Ashley Madison members were also cheaters; cheaters on their husbands and wives. These members also lived-for a time- in the realm of the gray… hiding their sins from their spouses and therefore from themselves. Thanks to The Impact Team…their crimes, too, were brought to light. Did not the remaining moral world salute those who chose the reestablish a higher bar for the promise of fidelity?
Was this not also a great news story?
On today’s battlefield that is the fight against MSM created ignorance, these new cyber-war correspondents are also often wounded, killed or taken prisoner. This month Guccifer, Marcel Lazar Lehel, a forty-four year old former taxi driver and paint salesman who was arrested in Romania and extradited to the US in 2014, was sent to prison for providing the public with too much inconvenient truth. Guccifer is the man who leaked, among others, the documents proving Hillary Clinton’s national security crimes. [link] Given fifty-four months in prison, Marcel Lazar Lehel rightly joined other world journalist heroes- such as Assange , Chelsea Manning, Snowden, Mordechai Vanunu, W. Mark Felt , Daniel Ellsberg- who put the bar of truth above concerns for personal freedom.
Prison, however, is the least of concerns.
At 4:25 AM on June 18, 2013, journalist Michael Hastings, who had revealed US General, David Petraeus, as having provided top-secret military intelligence to his news reporter and personal biographer mistress, Paula Broadwell, never got to tell the whole story. Reportedly the key info. had been previously leaked to him by Jill Kelly who he was scheduled to meet with the next day. According to eye witnesses and CCTV footage first, Hasting’s Mercedes C250 ES accelerated to a speed of over 135 MPH on a quiet Hancock Park/ Los Angeles street, then the car exploded in flames as the car’s engine was ejected through the hood, the car’s body then separating from the chassis. This all happened before Hastings’ and his Mercedes ran full speed- no brake marks-into a very large palm tree. Two days after the crash, the Los Angeles Police Department declared that there were no signs of foul play. Really?
On April 23, 2015, Petraeus pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified materials. He was given a two-year probationary period and a fine of $100,000.
Re-enforcing this terminal risk that stalks the nether regions of the gray for all truth-tellers, last month a person unknown tried to scale the outside walls of the Ecuadorian embassy. Credence to an assassination attempt on Assange was given substantial credibility when it was revealed that the local police station, mere blocks away, failed to heed emergency embassy calls regarding this breach of Ecuadorian sovereign property. The cops showed up two hours later.
Today’s hackers and leakers share two other realizations peculiar to the life of a dedicated journalist. Similarly, they make almost no remuneration for their efforts, merely hopefully serving-up their hard work to editors. If accepted for publication, rarely is this due primarily to the quest for full disclosure of a story, but instead for the success of their publications and readership revenues.
Allegiance is not first to the truth, but to money. A recent example of this is the advent of “The Intercept,” Glenn Greenwald’s mast-head that exists on leaks and information from underground sources. Privileged to receive one of the very few complete copies of the 2013 Snowden revelations, Greenwald made these the long-winded opening salvo of news articles that supposedly legitimized the Intercept, as well as attracting a large new readership. While it is unknown if Greenwald has shared this windfall with its originator, Snowden, for Greenwald however there has been a book, book tour and a trip to the Oscars.
But if monetary gain was the goal of the real journalist all would be faced with the sad choice of fading away… or selling-out. Many have. When personal dedication prevails however, they, as with Hactivists heroes like Snowden, face this much more controlling obstacle to getting their work to the public. Here, the cyber-journalist has come full circle to the same harsh realization of his contemporary peers: that all information is subject exclusively to an editors willingness to publish it. Whether it be the properly maligned Main Stream Media (MSM) or the too often mislabeled Alternative Media, editors are the true Gate Keepers of all internet information.
Consider the unfortunate punch-line to Edward Snowden placing his faith- and the biggest NSA document dump in history- in the hands of, seemingly, just four editors; Greenwald [pre-The Intercept] , Alan Rusbridger [The Guardian], Wolfgang Buchner [Der Spiegel] and Frederick J. Ryan, Jr. [Washington Post].
One of the first revelations from the Snowden leaks was that the NSA was intercepting and storing for evaluation all- repeat all- phone calls and meta data from five US allied countries under a program called “MYSTIC.” Reveling in the attention of an upcoming book tour, Greenwald, on behalf of the Intercept, released the names of only four of the five nations. Pressed on the issue of full disclosure, Greenwald refused to budge. As this story gained traction worldwide, neither the Guardian nor Der Spiegel and the other two trustees of the documents honored their own mandate for the full truth of this story. Fortunately, and reportedly unbeknownst to all four editors, there was a fifth copy- an insurance policy as it turned out- and this copy was in the hands of the only man with the power and dedication to real journalism- and the sacrifices of real journalists- able to hold these four media gate keepers accountable for having, in reality, joined MSM. After a week of their excuses, without fanfare Julian Assange and Wiki Leaks suddenly revealed that they would not in turn prostitute themselves, by providing one simple, all powerful answer to the world: Afghanistan.
When a media source deliberately fails to reveal key facts to its readers it is effectively guilty of journalistic treason. It can no longer be completely trusted. These whore’s of the 4th Estate fight daily a war against the will, the power, the intuition of the free mind. This incredible evil seeks to blanket the collective rational mind of the world in the ever tightening wrappings of the gray shroud of ignorance. Judging from the state of the world, evil is winning. Yet, against this flood of disinformation the journalist fights back. The ebb tide is turning. Hackers and leakers, like all journalists, have chosen to fight back, for in some… there is a deep place that ever smolders, igniting to fire on those long sleepless nights when the mind churns, a passion burns and one’s conscience screams in unison. Flames that can only be calmed… by action!
So, hackers…beware. You have joined a fight so few grasp in earnest, even fewer follow with sincerity and almost none attack unfailingly with a passion, a vengeance, a conviction. A fight that will not surrender to a standard so clearly beneath us.
Welcome, Brothers! The gauntlet is now at your feet.
It is time!

Brett Redmayne-Titley has been reporting on-scene for a decade in an effort to provide better quality reporting from current events of geo-political, environmental and moral importance. Having visited over fifty countries he is a world citizen and life-long activist and political commentator. He has published over one hundred in-depth articles, many of them multi-part exposes, which have been re-published and translated internationally. He can be reached at: [email protected]

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