Publishing Leaked Information as News: Sabotage or Journalistic Success?

Abstract

This article aims to analyse the universal news criteria regarding the transformation of information into news. In February 2013, the transcript of a meeting between 3 pro-Kurdish deputies and the jailed leader of the PKK (the Kurdistan Workers Party) was leaked to the Turkish press. This was published in Milliyet, a national Turkish newspaper, and has been interpreted as a forceful move to sabotage the positive atmosphere surrounding Turkey’s latest efforts with the PKK to end a conflict that has lasted more than three decades andresulted in the deaths of almost 36,000 people. The rationale for the leak was that although Turkey was going through a delicate time, there were questions that needed to be answered, but questions still remain: Who leaked the document, and why and how? The media has been divided about whether the publishing of the leaked transcript represented an effort to sabotage the peace attempts with the PKK or whether it marked a moment of journalistic success. What ethical stance should be taken about the leak? Should the journalist have reported it in the name of professionalism in terms of ‘informing the public’ or should he have exercised restraint out of respect for the ‘security of the state’? This article will examine those issues through an analytical approach and discuss the related attitudes of the foreign press.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n10p271