Hacker as Journalist: Journalist as Hacker

What is the difference between Rupert Murdoch’s phone hacking scandal and the LulzSec computer hackers? Primarily, one group has headshots, while the other only has partially capitalized aliases. Also, LulzSec didn’t have a stream of revenue like the News of World did.

The 21st century has so far unfolded in a way that no one predicted, and only a few people are happy about. The notion of the “hacker” in particular has undergone considerable changes since it was first romanticized in the mid 1990’s with films like “The Net” and “Hackers.” For one, few of the hackers sport photogenic shorn blonde hair. For another, most of the best-known hackers in the world aren’t hacking for profit, but rather to expose plans or secrets they feel endanger the globe’s population. While Julian Assange has benefited financially from WikiLeaks, his ultimate aim is not profit. The same is true of LulzSec.

The News of the World folks, on the other hand, have in many ways done far more damage than either of the aforementioned hackers. This group of intellectually bankrupt “journalists” was definitely after profit in the form of increased newspaper sales. Their cheap, crude voicemail hacks managed to touch on murder and violate the privacy of sovereigns. The information they gathered benefitted no one.

It seems that integrity rarely meshes with cash, but these examples of for-profit and non-profit hacking illustrate the point rather sharply. In this case, the scandals prove that the oft lamented “mainstream media” is indeed completely outdated. To be a true hacker, it seems, is really to adopt the mantle of what used to be known as journalism. To be a journalist, on the other hand, is to be an ethics-free corporate screed who loves to invade other people’s privacy: in other words, what we used to think of as “hackers.”

Corruption in human affairs is nothing new. Some could argue that the Murdoch scandal is the result of absolute power corrupting absolutely. In any case, it is time for the globe at large to re-evaluate what sort of information it is willing to pay for. Shall we pay for tabloid coverage of a grieving mother of a child murder victim, or the uncovering of genuinely frightening documents relating to your potential annihilation? It’s time to redefine what sort of news is fit to print.