Mediasphere- What is a Whistleblower?

One term I found interesting was whistleblower from group 2's project based on the idea of mediasphere.

A whistleblower is someone who exposes corruption in an organization. They expose any kind of information or activity that is deemed illegal, unethical, or not correct within an organization that is private or public. She was in some way apart of the government who leaked private information.

The Whistleblower protection act of 1989 is a law that protects federal employees from retaliatory action for voluntarily disclosing information about dishonest information within a government organization.

Whistleblowers can face legal action, criminal charges, and social stigmas from any job if they get caught or if the information they have disclosed gets released.

Chelsea Manning is a perfect example of this policy. Manning was a former U.S army soldier and whistleblower. In July of 2013, she released over 700,000 military and diplomatic documents to Wikileaks. Due to her leaking classified databases, she was charged with 22 offenses, which including aiding the enemy. Moreover, could have led her to the death penalty. She also got charged with espionage and theft and was put under solitary confinement for a year.

In all, Manning has been imprisoned since 2010 and will continue to remain in jail until she agrees to testify before a grand jury. She's refused every time.

Critics have stated that Chelsea Manning has received too hard of a punishment as others state that Manning deserved to get charged with aiding the enemy for releasing important, confidential information.

Watch the video below to get a better insight of Chelsea Manning's case.