The challenging thing about commenting on a fast-moving news story is that you commit your thoughts to print, publicly, and then things keep moving. So it is with Wikileaks and boy, did I learn my lesson when I blurted out an opinion-on-the-run earlier this week only to be met with howls of protest that it wasn’t well researched enough. I’m not going to repeat that mistake. With Julian Assange arrested last night on rape charges, this story continues to ‘move forward’ at the kind of cracking pace that would even impress Julia Gillard. SO. We’re going to publish a few excerpts of some relevant stories with links to the originals so you can read up for yourself. There are a huge number of extreme and nuanced views on Wikileaks, Julian Assange, freedom of speech, whether Wikileaks is actually journalism, whether the rape charges are a witch hunt, the responsibility of the Australian government to protect our citizens and on and on and on….

We’ve chosen these excerpts to give a variation in these views so you can form your own….and then change it as more facts emerge if you wish…..

Julian Assange wrote this for The Australian:

Writer and commentator, Luke Walladge wrote Julian Assange is not your friend, published on ABC’s The Drum this morning:

Todd Gitlin writes  Why Julian Assange is no Daniel Ellsberg for CBS News today.  He says in part

What is your opinion about WikiLeaks and Julian Assange given these new developments?

Please also add in any links to article you think we should be reading.