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ikiLeaks founder Julian Assange languishes in a British prison awaiting probable extradition to the United States to stand trial for violating the Espionage Act of 1917. Ironically, he is serving jail time for jumping bail on trumped-up sex crime charges in Sweden that even the Swedish government has now abandoned. Most Western, especially American, mainstream journalists, though, have expressed at most tepid opposition to the persecution of Assange, even as reports mount that his health has deteriorated to an alarming extent. 

This is shameful and jeopardizes the news media's own long-term interests. 

The worst thing about such conduct is that so many reporters have bought into the Justice Department's insistence that Assange is not a "legitimate" journalist. John Demers, the DOJ's assistant attorney general for national security, bluntly stated the government's thesis earlier this year. "Julian Assange," Demers said, "is no journalist," since he engaged in "explicit solicitation of classified information."