Internet Entrepreneur Establishes Whistleblower Support Organization

The public view of whistleblowers has dropped precipitously from its high point, which probably was around 2002, when three whistleblowers were named “Persons of the Year” by Time Magazine, says Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik. More recently, he writes, instead of heroes, like the woman who blew the whistle on Enron, we have more complex figures like Edward Snowden. In a debate about Snowden a view years ago, between two staff writers for The New Yorker, one called him a hero while the other called him “a grandiose narcissist who deserves to be in prison.” It’s probably the latter view that predominates these days, but it’s not only attitudes that have changed, Hiltzik notes. So has the law, as demonstrated by a recent Supreme Court decision that limited whistleblower protections written into the Dodd-Frank legislation to individuals who complain directly to the SEC, excluding those who complain internally. One Washington whistleblower attorney calls this decision “the single the greatest loss for whistleblowers in 50 years” With this increasingly precarious status of the whistleblower as background, Hiltzik goes on to detail the rise of a new whistleblower support organization called The Signals Network, ]which has been bankrolled by a wealthy internet entrepreneur. The Signals Network has cooperative agreements with five international news organizations, including Britain’s Daily Telegraph and the U.S.-based investigative site Intercept. It also offers various kinds of support, including PR and legal help, as well as temporary housing for whistleblowers who fear they might be in danger of harassment or physical harm.