What WikiLeaks tells us about America, and American journalism

WE LIVE IN AN ERA DEFINED BY INFORMATION. Few organizations have done more to identify, and accelerate, this state of affairs than WikiLeaks. With its central idea, that transparency is a weapon to be brandished online, WikiLeaks has created a model of political action as it has become a cultural archetype.

Though WikiLeaks emerged into the public consciousness a decade ago, debates about its character, meaning, and significance remain unresolved. These are often conducted by older media organizations that characterize it as both an antagonist and an unruly protégé, unable...