ABSTRACT
Transparency and scandals have been conventionally considered as two distinct—and even incompatible—categories on the grounds of their alleged relationship to the truth value of an event. Transparency is thought to be a precondition for scandals (something first needs to be exposed before the public can evaluate if a moral transgression has occurred), and yet at the same time, scandals are thought to foster transparency. In order to advance a proper understanding of the role that WikiLeaks has played in our contemporary public sphere, it is necessary to place both of them as part of an ideological continuum in the manufacturing of consent. The fluidity and progressive imbrication of trust and attention in our contemporary digital landscape makes it difficult to anticipate the public’s response to media events in terms of resistance and co-option. The various ways in which we frame an event can rapidly shift from politics to spectacle—or from accountability to distraction. The interchangeability of these modes (scandal politics and political scandals) is deeply related to the operation of power through media and information, and involves subtle operations that cannot be grasped by a clear-cut separation between these terms. This chapter develops a theoretical and critical understanding of how disclosure platform and transparency champion website WikiLeaks has shaken and shaped scandal discourses in the public sphere.
