"Wikiwars," CNN documentary on Wikileaks, debuts

This weekend, CNN will air "Wikiwars," the network's much-promoted documentary on Wikileaks hosted by a former Navy SEAL. The one-hour program premieres Sunday, June 12, 8:00pm ET & PT, and will repeat at other times after that.

I haven't seen it yet, but Greg Mitchell, who has been blogging tirelessly about Wikileaks over at the Nation for nearly half a year now, has. The short version: "Like [the PBS] Frontline epic," he says, the CNN documentary contains "no new news."

Snip from Mitchell's preview:

This is a list of Assange / WikiLeaks critics interviewed (and quoted more than once): David Leigh, Nick Davies, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, Adrian Lamo, Brigadier Gen. Mark T. Kimmitt (Ret.). Here is a list of Assange / WikiLeaks supporters interviewed: one unnamed and masked allegedly activist from Anonymous. Other critics who get face time: Hillary Clinton, Robert Gates, even Newt Gingrich.

Not a surprise: The official Wikileaks Twitter account, presumably Julian Assange himself, describes the documentary as "full of the usual slanders."

• [Anonymous]

  Oh, I can’t wait to see the hacks on the CNN site…

• [Anonymous]

  Just saw the documentary. What a horrible piece of “journalism.” Half of it is government propaganda provided by an “ex” US general (ex generals paid as government propaganda tools were an instrumental part of the lead up to the Iraq war), the other half is an obsessive study on Julian Assange that bears a striking resemblance to something TMZ might do.

• [querent]

  And you know they could’ve gotten Ellsberg.

  Bastards.

• [Cowicide]

  That CNN would choose someone from the military is very fitting for them.

  During the Gulf War in Iraq in the early 90′s, my good friend worked at the Department of Interior and was assigned a little American flag and told by his boss that he had to go out with other government employees to wave the flag and smile when Bush, Sr. arrived from a helicopter. His boss had to cancel at the last minute from doing it himself.

  My friend told of me of this and we watched CNN that night and CNN lied to the American public and instead of INFORMING the public that it was government employees, they shot video of the crowd, lied and said that “a group of well-wishers greeted the President as he exited his helicopter”.

  We saw my friend in the video waving his flag and looking rather confused. That was the only funny part.

  It was that day I learned very directly that CNN is nothing more than another propagandist arm of the military. And, if you don’t believe that the U.S. military won’t use propaganda against it’s own people, then you only need to read this to see how far they will actually go to promote war in the name of profit.

  CNN is doing what it’s been doing for decades. Helping war profiteers make higher profits by not reporting news and instead disseminating propaganda and lies.

  • [Victor Drath]

    +1 Cowicide, well said. CNN gives us news about as well as a Lunchable gives nutrition.

  • [failix]

    Have you ever considered that they may simply have made an honest mistake? I mean, to an outside observer (which CNN reporters are), your friend must have looked like he was an actual “well-wisher”… just sayin…

    Let’s hope for CNN they thoroughly crawl up Assange’s ass if their website is to remain intact. Of course I’d prefer they secure their networks and do honest reporting instead.

    • [Victor Drath]

      “Of course I’d prefer they secure their networks and do honest reporting instead.”

      Oh there is so much you’re missing, my friend. I would suggest you visit fair.org or read some Glenn Greenwald articles for enlightenment on corporate media and “honest reporting”

  • [Goblin]

    If you hate CNN that much then just turn the TV off. There’s no point in dignifying CNN with a comment if you really don’t give a rats — about it.

    • [Cowicide]

      If you hate CNN that much then just turn the TV off.

      You’re such an angry little Goblin, aren’t you?

      There’s no point in dignifying CNN with a comment if you really don’t give a rats — about it.

      I had a point. You just missed it like usual. Now move along, move along. You’re useless.

• [jacques45]

  I’m glad I’m not first on their pager list this weekend.

• [Goblin]

  LULZSEC’s hacking of PBS is an admission that the TV is not an outdated format — After all if the technophiles care about it then it must still be important. It should be interesting to see if the LULZ decide double down on the importance of TV with CNN.

  • [emmdeeaych]

    you say “admission” as though their point had anything to to with the format.

    • [Goblin]

      My point was that LULZ and their supporters by hacking PBS created a negative Streisand effect around an issue that they previously had been slowly gathering broader support for.

    • [Cowicide]

      Goblin seems very angry today and is lashing out in random, ill-concieved directions. I don’t see his point at all either. No one that has anything to do with this is saying Television isn’t still very popular (as it surely is). I guess Goblin just hallucinated that in his blind rage.

      • [Goblin]

        Cow, I would like to have a reasoned discussion with you, if that is possible.

• [Anonymous]

  When I heard a former Navy SEAL was hosting, I desperately hoped it was Jesse Ventura. Damn, no such luck. Then again, given his support for Wikileaks, I doubt Assange would be calling out a Ventura-hosted documentary as full of slanders…

• [Anonymous]

  when you scoop a mainstream american ‘journalistic’ organization and expose their lies they then advocate for your assassination/life imprisonment.