Leaks are unauthorized releases of secret information, ranging from books under embargo to sensitive government documents. News agencies rely on leaks for unique stories. Leakers can be disgruntled employees, concerned citizens, or those seeking attention. The Pentagon Papers were a famous leak that changed perceptions of the Vietnam War and protected the source.
A leak is a release of information that is supposed to be secret. The leaks ranged widely, from discussions about the contents of books that are still under a publisher’s embargo, meaning the books have not yet been released, to exposures of sensitive government documents. Many news agencies around the world rely on leaks to “discover” their opponents, allowing them to publish unique stories that readers, viewers and listeners cannot access anywhere else.
The “leak” in “leak” is a reference to the fact that information is to be obtained through information leaks from within an organization. Sometimes the leaks are less clandestine; some politicians, for example, have publicly discussed classified information by accident or intentionally, as in the case of Valerie Plame, an American secret agent who was exposed to the national media at a press conference.
Leaks can take many forms. For example, someone within an organization might want to draw attention to a serious problem, such as an illegal activity, and might choose to go to the media with this information. Some people use leaks to get information quickly, even if they are not authorized to disclose it, sometimes for the purpose of manipulating the media. Organizations can also make off-the-record comments that could be considered leaks before the information is formally released.
Leakers take many forms. Some are disgruntled employees who simply want to damage the public image of the companies they work for. Others are concerned citizens who feel uneasy about the work their companies do. Some simply want attention, spreading information in the hopes that it will turn into a big story so that it can be in the public eye. In some cases, a leak comes from someone who is friends with a reporter and is seen as a personal favor.
A famous leak in the United States was the Pentagon Papers, a series of classified public documents that were released by the Washington Post. The Pentagon Papers proved to be a flashpoint for the American public, dramatically changing perceptions of the Vietnam War and causing people to rally around the journalists involved when forced to reveal their source. Even today, the source of a leak is protected in the United States, sometimes to the great frustration of the government.
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