18/06/2022
Julian Assange's story is a Masterclass.
Julian Assange is not the first journalist to face persecution neither will he be the last. But he is a clear pinup of the sacrifice that comes with working in the media industry. Competing interests create a compelling story that has gripped audiences since the advent of content creation. As things stand, Assange is closer to a trial in the United States (U.S.) than at any time since his incarceration in the United Kingdom (U.K.) in 2019. On the 17th of June 2022, British Home Secretary Priti Patel formally ordered the WikiLeaks founder to be extradited to the U.S.. He has two weeks to appeal failing which he will inevitably face 18 federal counts related to his publishing of classified diplomatic cables and sensitive military reports from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
When he was arrested in April of 2019 by U.K. authorities, it was on the basis of an unsealed indictment by the U.S. that accused him of a criminal conspiracy which that government called "one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States." But beyond the controversies of this moving story, the role of the production crew in capturing every moment in real-time and relaying it to the world is as remarkable as Assange’s strength during this whole ordeal. To remain impartial when framing the story and providing the required detail should indicate the importance of crew development and professional conduct capacitation.
For Botswana practitioners, this remains a challenge which permeates productions. The story telling is challenged and lacks original thought. Yes, it may be blamed on a myriad of reasons including that most productions are agenda driven, however, the framing of the narrative always falls short. Framing a story requires depth, not only in story telling but also in the understanding of minute details like the psychology of a character and their responses to their environment. In Assange’s case all these have been exhausted right through the first time the first cable was published to the present. Each character that was added to his story was followed up with precision. The world even witnessed the transformation of Bradley Manning; who is a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst who had a top-secret security clearance to crack a password on Defense Department computers connected to the Secret Internet Protocol Network in 2010, as he morphed into Chelsea Manning.
But this is not an indictment on Botswana’s production crews per se but it is a reflective moment on the challenges faced by the media, film and digital arts industry in Botswana. So much more still needs to be done. Scenarios like Assange’s gripping case provide an opportunity to reflect on this as the resulting story and its framing are simply a master class for enthusiasts, aspirants and professionals.
That said, Assange’s continued incarceration and now his highly possible extradition, have been vehemently condemned across the world as an attempt to kill and destroy media freedoms, in particular freedoms of speech and the right for citizens to know what their rulers are doing in the dark halls of power. Should he lose his bid to stop the extradition, his first court appearance would be in the Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia., just outside of Washington, D.C. where the case is assigned to District Judge Claude M. Hilton. And should he be convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison for each of the 17 most serious criminal counts against him. It is obvious that his fight has taken a toll on him, his wife Stella and the rest of his family and crew. But, what a hell of a ride it has been following this story though!
Staff Writer
OSADJ Journalism Development Programme
