While the leaking of Afghan war documents has been criticized in some Canadian columns, on the pages of J-Source WikiLeaks is described as citizen journalism we need and a new form of asymmetrical journalism. Founder Julian Assange, a self-described ‘person of interest’ to U.S. authorities, explains his decision to provide advance viewings to select outlets. The mainstream media partnerships weren’t completely comfortable: Assange later criticized the New York Times for its handling of the data, including checking with the White House before publishing and not providing a direct link to the documents. An alternative strategy could have been dribbles instead of dumps. Here are links to compare the special reportage sites: New York Times, Der Spiegel, the Guardian.

To get an inside track, the G8/20 Toronto Community Mobilization website is a hub for activities ranging from bike block actions to radical street parties. Rabble.ca has a G8/20 ‘one stop shop’ of alt media coverage, and has published a guide to independent journalists covering the event, including what to do when CSIS comes calling. The Toronto Media Co-op, a division of Dominion News, is reporting on the People's Summit, while OpenFile offers coverage from a local perspective. The G20 Alt Media Centre is already abuzz with reports, tweets, photos and video from the streets. There are also individual activists like Krystalline Kraus and Stefan Christoff blogging and tweeting from ground zero, and a lively online debate about the relationship of the bank bombers to social movements. Journalists who want to dig further into the banquet of issues on offer will find a virtual library of resources at the G8 Information Centre provided by the University of Toronto and Munk School of Global Affairs.