It's a common saying that snitches get stitches. However, Einstein also said that "the world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything". Standing by and watching injustice without doing anything is more common than doing the bad action itself- but by not saying anything about it, people only add to it. Whistleblowers, therefore, are around- and they often help journalists collect info, true or false. "Whistleblowing is an act of a man or woman who, believing in the public interest, overrides the interest of the organization he/she serves to publicly blow the whistle if the organization is involved in corrupt, illegal, fraudulent, or harmful activity." — Ralph Nader, consumer advocate and activist. If we follow this definition, then isn't whistleblowing something everyone should do? It's true that often people only whistleblow for attention or exaggerate, but if we look at that definition, then it's the morally honest thing to do.
There are so many organizations that actively support whistleblowing: the National Whistleblower Center, the Government Accountability Project, Working with Whistleblowers and so many more. Just take a look at LeakDirectory.org for a longer list of whistleblowing sites!
Journalists often use whistleblowers to get their stories, but if they value their careers, they first check their motivation and information for accuracy in order to verify any suspected falsehood. Without whistleblowing, more harmful activities would be committed and less news stories on them would be around. Honesty is not always the best policy, but when it helps in exposing illegal happenings, then it's highly important to society as a whole. And it doesn't just have to be for something as big as helping journalists expose a corrupt company: if you see something wrong going on, no matter how small you think it is- speak up!
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