Is the Wikileaks concept about to go mainstream? New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller says he’s considering starting a way for leakers to upload their documents directly to the Times. Keller tells Yahoo’s “The Cutline“:
“A small group from computer-assisted reporting and interactive news, with advice from the investigative unit and the legal department, has been discussing options for creating a kind of EZ Pass lane for leakers.”
The move would be provocative. Keller says he has seen the Al Jazeera version of the concept (a “digital dropbox”), and says he is looking at creating a similar project. It would be a big win for the Times — after all, it would get the information exclusively, rather than waiting for a Wikileaks dump to multiple organizations. From the Times POV, it would be able to further its editorial mission. Of course, there’s still the question of whether leakers would want to send their information to just one organization.