Just between you, me ... and the internet  Updated March 03,
2011 09:27:00  I spent lunchtime on Tuesday moderating a panel
discussion organised by undergraduates at Sydney University. It
was called "WikiLeaks and Julian Assange: secrecy, security and
freedom of speech"; and no, this isn't going to be another
column about either WikiLeaks or Mr Assange. At least, not
directly.  Among the panellists was Professor Wendy Bacon of the
Australian Centre for Independent Journalism at the University
of Technology, Sydney. She argued passionately that WikiLeaks
has been doing what the established media has all too frequently
failed to do in recent years: shone light into dark corners - in
Kenya, in the Niger Delta, in London, and especially in Iraq,
and Afghanistan, and Washington. In almost all circumstances,
she declared, transparency is in the public interest.  Another
panellist, Tom Switzer, editor of The Spectator Australia, made
the point that no government can function effectively unless its
deliberations can