Talk:Whistleblower

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Contents 1 Origins of the term 2 Deletion of Vanunu 3 Tripp 4 Freedom category 5 Stephen Heller 6 Mordechai Vanunu Revisited 7 Please add a link to mobbing.ca 8 Famous Whistleblowers?

[edit] Origins of the term

where does the word or term "whistleblowers" origionate??? it sounds like an english word that would come out of a factory setting where the whistle blower would signal to stop the assembly line and report something to his superiors. but I cant find any infoi to support my hunch

Interesting question. I found this, from Wordorigins:

Whistleblower, a word for an employee, especially a civil servant, who publicly denounces illegal or wasteful practices, is relatively recent. The phrase "blow the whistle" dates to 1934 and is a metaphor for a sports official calling a foul. The term whistleblower, itself, only dates to 1970.

Maybe that's close enough? – Quadell ^{(talk) (sleuth)} 19:32, Mar 24, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Deletion of Vanunu

The objection to the deletion of Vanunu appears invalid. He did expose corruption, since Israel is accepting American aid under false pretences, i.e. that it does not have nuclear weapons. He also revealed that the Israeli nuclear plant would release nuclear materials into the atmosphere when the wind was blowing towards Jordan, surely misconduct and probably illegal. He revealed this to the highest authority of all, world opinion. PatGallacher 01:24, 2005 August 15 (UTC)

Could you possibly source any of these claims? Particularly that Israel is accepting AID under the "pretences" that it does not have nuclear weapons, or that the nuclear plant is in any way illegal? Jayjg ^(talk) 02:19, 15 August 2005 (UTC)

Without going into the question of the legality or otherwise of the nuclear facility at Dimona, I would agree that there is a case of linking the whistleblower article to the article on Mordechai Vanunu. As the case of Mordechai Vanunu is dealt with in detail elsewhere on Wikipedia, a mere link would suffice. I think the link should remain so that people can compare and contrast Vanunu's case with those of others who are generally regarded as whistleblowers. Michael Glass 13:18, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

All this clear POV. HOWEVER, if you only want people to read about Vanunu in the context of whistleblowing through an external link, rather than confusing readers about whistleblowers with highly contested examples, I am going to go along with your compromise. Education has not hurt anyone, nor reasonable compromises on Wikipedia rules. gidonb 13:32, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Tripp

I find it curious that Vanunu is out and Tripp is in. For example - the ratio of google references to Vanunu+whistleblower as opposed to Tripp+whistleblower is 4 to 1. Of course, if the Vanunu case had been more widely discussed than the Linda Tripp case this could just be an artefact, but the reverse seems to be the case. One may certainly take the point of view that both are widely viewed as whistleblowers, and I would imagine that both claims would also be hotly disputed by substantial bodies of opinion. I have no view on the desirability of including controversial examples, but at the moment the treatment is inconsistent. Abu Amaal 04:02, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Freedom category

I have removed the category "Freedom" from this page. The definition of whistleblower clearly can include cases where the whistleblower's action may either harm or help freedom; therefore the concept is freedom-neutral and it makes no sense as an article under the freedom category. For example, if the law is a fugitive slave law, and a group is acting as an underground railroad, then someone who does whistleblowing in that group to bring in the authorities is clearly harming freedom. Or the notion of health regulations, right in the whistleblower definition; the whole notion of a health regulation is contrary to freedom. On the other hand, whistleblowing can also help freedom in the case of reducing corruption. PJB

[edit] Stephen Heller

The whistleblower in the California Diebold case (they settled for $2.6 million) was charged with three felonies as a result and is now going to trial. He seems on his way to becoming a famous whistleblower as a result. Add? [[1]] Abu Amaal 01:02, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Mordechai Vanunu Revisited

It seems odd that the name of Mordechai Vanunu has been exclused from the list of famous Whistleblowers. He is referred to as a whistleblower in an article in Harretz, an Israeli newspaper. <http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=%20417663&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y> If Haaretz can call him a whistleblower, why not Wikipedia? Michael Glass 09:31, 16 April 2006 (UTC)

Israeli newspapers need to sell copies just like other papers worldwide, so from time to time they will insert juicy titles (notice that the journalist never used the concept). There is no reason why Israeli newspapers should in this respect be different from other newspapers in other democratic countries. Yet the perception that Vanunu is a whistleblower is contested. There is agreement that he supplied very interesting information to the press - as many journalistic sources do - the disagreement is whether he exposed any misconduct. Unlike lets say the exposure of corruption and other crimes, the believe whether he did is usually related to one's political positions. Please dive into the former discussions here and elsewhere and you will see different personal opinions on this subject. Regards, gidonb 12:49, 16 April 2006 (UTC)

I think it would be useful to discuss the case of Mordechai Vanunu in this article, not as a means of saying that he fits or does not fit the definition of a whistleblower, but as a way of illustrating the dificulties inherent in defining the term. It would also be good to say that the same person can be seen as both a whistleblower and a traitor, depending on the point of view of the observer. Using the case of Mordechai Vanunu in this way would be a challenge, because he is such a controversial figure for supporters of Israel. However, I think that the result, if successful, would be well worth the effort. Michael Glass 01:40, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Please add a link to mobbing.ca

I have added a reference to "mobbing" at the end of "Reactions to whistleblowing" as it is often the response from organizations to whistleblowers.

I would like to add an external link to mobbing.ca, a website which provides information on this phenomenon.

For your convenience here is the link you can add to "External links":

• mobbing.ca (Mobbing resources in Canada)

Radyx 04:03, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Famous Whistleblowers?

What would qualify as a famous Whistleblower? Is it but the list of all of them that turns up on the category page, or does it have to be a household name like Ralph Nader? Achim