Whistleblower epideictic and the rejuvenation of the fourth estate

Abstract

ABSTRACT The historical partnership between whistleblowers and journalists has produced some of the most consequential news stories of the 20th and 21st centuries. However, this partnership has also experienced deep ruptures, most notably after the attacks on 9/11 that reordered the fourth estate’s (the press) approach to publishing stories on national intelligence and politically powerful figures. While sensational developments in information accessibility such as WikiLeaks and online document repositories have meaningfully changed the activity of newsgathering and how stories are published, this article instead looks to the more delicate activity of whistleblower rhetoric and its role in recalibrating the place of the fourth estate in a liberal democracy. What follows is an analysis of how a small, vulnerable, and otherwise heterogeneous group uses a rhetoric of praise and blame to achieve a vision of the fourth estate’s essential role in the world.