Whistleblowing Reporting as an Alternative Tool For Transparency in the Modern Media Environment ( Case Studies of Edward Snowden and Julian Assange)

Since 2012, the term "whistleblowing" has become one of the principal terms used in the context of public democracy in international relations. Whistleblowing through alternative media has become a tool for openness in the field of media and politics. Why whistleblowers used alternative rather than mainstream media is the main focus of this study. The contradiction of whistleblowing is that information received from leakers may not always be reliable, while mainstream media only provide verified information. The lack of literature and public analysis of such a phenomenon as whistleblowing explains the need to study this issue in the context of international relations. This thesis examines the examples of Julian Assange (WikiLeaks) and Edward Snowden as they are the most well-known and well-studied. Their example shows how and why alternative media were chosen. As well as at what point there was a shift in public confidence in favour of alternative media.