Editorial : Ellsberg speaks to power of truth in democracy, active citizenship

Daniel Ellsberg, the man who released the Pentagon Papers in 1971 to The New York Times and 17 other newspapers, spoke to an overflowing lecture hall in Newhouse III. Drawing a parallel to last year’s information dump of diplomatic cables on WikiLeaks, Ellsberg released, at that time, the largest unauthorized leak of classified documents in American history.

On Tuesday evening, Ellsberg presented a strong case for the power of information and the virtue and legality of the WikiLeaks dump. Now lauded as a hero, Ellsberg and his story show the amazing power citizens armed with the truth can have in changing the course of history.

Democracy hinges on citizens’ access to the truth. The recent leaks enabled more informed citizenship at Syracuse University, as several cables included talk of Libya and the Pan Am Flight 103 Lockerbie bombing, which killed 35 SU students in 1988.

Whistleblowers, from Ellsberg to WikiLeaks, reinvigorate activism and critical citizenship. There’s no more relevant example of the power of public knowledge than the tumult in the Middle East. Ellsberg argued the recent democratic rebels found vindication and strength in the leaks, which confirmed for the world the injustices they witnessed every day.

Just last week, the Army released 22 more charges against Army Pvt. Bradley Manning, the man accused of gathering the classified diplomatic cables and handing them over to WikiLeaks. Ellsberg recalled facing a daunting 115-year prison sentence when he released the 7,000-page document outlining officials’ sordid decisions behind the Vietnam War. Muckrakers put themselves in immense danger as they gather knowledge for the public. The least we, as citizens, can do in exchange is listen, read and care about the rare access to information and use it to build a healthier, more educated democracy.