GUILTY OF JOURNALISM | A Busboys and Poets Books Presentation
Date and Time
Aug 20, 2023 6:00 pm
Location
Shirlington
4251 S. Campbell Ave, Arlington, Virginia, 22206
Aug 20, 2023 6:00 pm
Shirlington
In 2013 Chelsea Manning shocked the world with leaked documents that exposed abuses and crimes committed by the US military in Iraq. These revelations also made the publisher of those documents, Julian Assange, and his organization, WikiLeaks, household names. Kevin Gosztola was one of the few reporters to cover the US military court-martial against Manning. He was at Fort Meade for each phase, including the trial, and became a go-to resource for both the public and the media (PBS stalwart, “Frontline,” noted his critical role in the coverage). Since then, he has reported on the unfolding saga of Julian Assange with equal tenacity and focus. In GUILTY OF JOURNALISM: THE POLITICAL CASE AGAINST JULIAN ASSANGE, Gosztola meticulously documents how state and private actors have colluded to punish a journalist fiercely committed to transparency, truth-telling, and uncovering the secrets of the powerful.
While much of the establishment coverage of the landmark prosecution of Assange has focused on his “secret family” and his health in jail, Gosztola has fearlessly investigated the political motivations, legal abuses, and cynical maneuverings that have kept Assange captive and subject to what many consider inhumane conditions. His reporting makes clear how massive the stakes are not just for Assange, but also for the journalists who rely on a free press to do their jobs, and for the public who rely on it to fully participate in democracy.
With the UK government’s approval of extradition, Assange could be brought to the United States before the end of 2023. GUILTY OF JOURNALISM will serve as an essential guidebook for deciphering the legal proceedings and parsing through many of the falsehoods promoted by the Justice Department in this case.
Kevin Gosztola is joining us on the Busboys stage to share his experiences investigating the criminalization of journalists for reporting the truth. Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and Gosztola will be signing following the program.
This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of GUILTY OF JOURNALISM will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is IN PERSON and will NOT be livestreamed.
We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets Books
Kevin Gosztola has spent the last decade reporting on Assange, WikiLeaks, and the wider war on whistleblowers. He is cofounder and managing editor of Shadowproof, an independent news outlet focused on systemic abuses of power in business and government, and the curator of The Dissenter newsletter. Gosztola also produces and co-hosts the weekly podcast, “Unauthorized Disclosure.” His work has appeared in outlets such as The Nation, Salon, Common Dreams, and Truthout, and he has been a featured guest on Democracy Now!, The Real News Network, CounterSpin, and Al Jazeera English. He previously co-authored Truth and Consequences: The US vs. Private Manning (Sinclair Books, 2012; with Greg Mitchell).
John Kiriakou is a journalist, former CIA counterterrorism officer, former senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and former counterterrorism consultant for ABC News. He was responsible for the capture in Pakistan in 2002 of Abu Zubaydah, then believed to be the third-ranking official in al-Qaeda. In 2007, Kiriakou blew the whistle on the CIA’s torture program, telling ABC News that the CIA tortured prisoners, that torture was official U.S. government policy, and that the policy had been approved by then-President George W. Bush. He became the sixth whistleblower indicted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act — a law designed to punish spies. He served 23 months in prison as a result of the revelation.
Kiriakou is the author of eight books, including The Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA’s War on Terror; Doing Time Like a Spy: How the CIA Taught Me to Survive and Thrive in Prison; The Convenient Terrorist: Abu Zubaydah and the Weird Wonderland of America’s Secret Wars; and The CIA Insider’s Guide to the Iran Crisis.
