After the second EOTO presentation I felt even more equipped with knowledge that I can use going forward. The two topics that stood out the most to me were Whistleblowers and the Spiral of Silence. Starting with the more modern issue. The Spiral of Silence is the modern day self-censorship. This is a learned behavior that the human brain provides to try and protect your image. The term was coined Elizabeth Suhay . In the spiral of silence, a big part of the silence is holding an opposing view that you do not want to mention, so you stay quiet. Also, it's a generational issue with the fact that people are afraid to speak out, so they will become isolated from everything. Today people just want to fit in and go with mass media. All it takes is one person to go against the crowd and change can be made. That is exactly what our next topic consists of those people being whistleblowers.
A whistleblower by definition is a member of a big organization that reports to the media about secret information or a shortcoming in the company or organization. Also, there is a societal impact of cultural shift and distrust. This is due to scandals like Watergate and Tea Pot Dome that made people lose faith in their government. Some of the famous whistleblowers are Daniel Ellsberg and Edward Snowden as outlined in the presentation. Starting with Daniel Ellsberg who exposed the Pentagon papers. The papers led to the public understanding they were misled during the Vietnam War. The papers detailed the U.S. Department of Defense's role during 1945 to 1967. Daniel Ellsberg pointed out something that the citizens of the United States needed and he was charged with the Espionage Act. The next whistleblower was Edward Snowden who is a more recent whistleblower who exposed mass surveillance. Snowden worked for the CIA and got special access, but was exiled out of the United States. In conclusion, the United States can become a better place with whistleblowers or worse if the silence of citizens continues.
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