Whistleblowers

Under the law, the act of whistleblowing is defined as “disclosing information that you reasonably believe is evidence of a violation of any law, rule, or regulation, or gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety”. Whistleblowers must often conjure up a lot of courage in order to be willing to make such reports, especially because they are reporting on people or institutions in power. On the positive side, when whistleblowers are listened to and taken seriously, their courage can have a positive impact, in that they make sure wrongdoers are not rewarded or benefitting from their corruption. In addition, they may also receive financial rewards for their reports. On the other hand, it doesn't always work out in their favor. Allegations may not always hold up, sometimes the whistleblower doesn't have access to enough information or doesn't have the same knowledge as some others. Also, they may be putting their careers at risk when they choose to report on certain things. They could be going against the best interests of someone in control of their career, making it a high-stakes game for the whistleblower. Another pro of whistleblowing is the positive effect it can have on society as a whole. Corruption and government waste are among the largest contributors to the economic drain on society. One could easily argue that it is the responsibility of anyone in a proper position to call out this corruption at all levels to protect people like you and me from suffering the consequences. Most of the time, the whistleblower is revealing information about those at the top, in the hope to benefit, or at least minimizing the detriment to those at the bottom. Meaning whistleblowing is an act that typically negatively affects those who benefit from corruption, the rich and those in the majority. Whistleblowing stands to benefit the poor, the young, and those in the minority. 

Notable Whistleblowers

A man named Mark Felt is a well-known whistleblower responsible for exposing one of the most noteworthy controversies in recent American political history. He was the man who brought down the Nixon administration. Felt headed up an investigation of President Nixon and his involvement in corrupt acts dealing with his reelection. The scandal became known as Watergate and eventually caused Nixon to resign. This scandal had huge implications on society, it caused Americans to think more critically about their president and question their elected officials. 

Edward Snowden is another extremely influential whistleblower. He worked for the CIA and in 2013, leaked highly classified information from the NSA. He disclosed several global surveillance programs run by the NSA that many would consider a clear invasion of citizens' privacy. As a result of his actions, a cultural discussion about national security and personal privacy began and still persists today. In Snowden's case, whistleblowing affected all of us. He revealed information that directly pertained to us, yet was being kept from us. He saw it as his responsibility to inform us of the disregard of our right to privacy.

In both of these contexts, whistleblowing was a noble, brave thing to do. These whistleblowers had huge impacts on society, they changed our culture and the way we see the world we live in. Mark Felt played a part in revealing something that makes us think much more critically about the position of the presidency. Watergate showed us the reality of corruption in politics and helped us to open our eyes to such injustice so that we don't fall victim to it. Edward Snowden opened our eyes to not only how much the government can but will do in spite of invading our privacy. He revealed information that we would otherwise still not be privy to. He opened our eyes to the amount of privacy we actually lack.