David E. Sanger, a New York Times reporter looked through the latest WikiLeaks information and wrote stories based on the leaked material, he said in an interview on NPR.
It “was never an easy decision to publish national security information,” but “at the end of this process, what we did was responsible, it was legal and it was important for a democratic society.”
The Times was the only American news organization to receive government documents that were released by WikiLeaks, the Internet organization that specializes in exposing government secrets through leaked information.
WikiLeaks released about 90,000 documents prepared by U.S. military sources on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, this summer.
WikiLeaks cut its link with The Times, and offered the State Department cables to two other American news outlets, CNN and the Wall Street Journal. Both refused, decided that its terms – including a demand for financial compensation under certain circumstances were unacceptable.
WikiLeaks decided not to work with The Times on the latest leaks.
