The Huffington Post is an alternative news website which aggregates material from various blogs and allows commentary. A setup such as the Huffington Post allows the public to interact more actively with the media. The excerpt was published here because it is a relevant blog and relates well to the social/political activists that are the main audience of this site.  This excerpt was written by a blogger, Micah L. Sirfry, who is a co-founder of the Personal Democracy Forum. His interest and his works center around the idea on how technology is changing politics. This excerpt precisely addresses that,reflecting how WikiLeaks and such organizations are “cutting-edge” technology for this new political age.

Yes, WikiLeaks is a Wiki. It is a collaborative website created by multiple accredited users around the globe as stated on their website. The purpose of WikiLeaks is to get the truth to the public and it is important that the public be a part of this website in order
to reflect the true purpose.  Sirfry’s main point is that transparency in politics is very important as it allows the government to keep its power in check. He is appealing to the public to share true information and sources with organizations such as Wikileaks. He makes a pretty convincing case to the audience of this site, who are technology-based social and political activists.

I admire the whole concept of transparency that WikiLeaks has created. There is a great truth to the fact that the more power one has, the greater a need there is for transparency.  Televised media and much of the media on the net seem to be washed out, sensationalized news that people use for entertainment rather than knowledge nowadays. I completely agree with Sirfry’s argument and too hope that the truth emerges rather than being blinded by what the media is portraying. I agree that this should be the case politically, but it should also cover other news. However, I still believe that there should be some limitations to transparency. Assange framed it very well by stating that transparency should be proportional to power. The one thing I find ironic in all of this transparency talk, is that the “founder” of all of this, Assange, is described by Sirfry as a very mysterious, hidden persona. Overall, the argument was very well framed and convincing of its cause.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/09/wikileaks-assange-transparency_n_820348.html