Wikileaks Founder Blasts NYT for Not Linking

Julian Assange has criticized the New York Times for not linking directly to his Wikileak site and its archive of Afghanistan war logs, calling the paper's handling of the story "a little bit unprofessional" in an interview with Democracy Now. "If the New York Times, for whatever reason, wants to not link to Wikileaks for its own defensive politics, then it can do that, and it’s perfectly entitled to," Assange said. "But to deliberately say that that is being avoided smacks of unprofessional conduct, to me."

But for the Times, the decision not to link was a carefully deliberated one. "In our own publication, in print and on our website, we were careful to remove anything that could put lives at risk," managing editor Bill Keller told the Daily Beast. "We could not be sure that the trove posted on Wikileaks, even with some 15,000 documents held back, would not endanger lives. We thought readers were entitled to know that the absence of a link was intentional, not some oversight, and to know the reason for it." Mediaite has more on this this "new media" fight here.
(More Julian Assange stories.)