Normally, we can all agree on a similar level that as journalists, we should be legally and ethically justified in informing the public without interference from the government or corporate interests. But this issue has many of us re-evaluating our stances as journalists, as students and as Americans, and the answers aren’t clear-cut. We have no problem pointing out corruption when we see it, but what would happen if our seeing it posed a potential threat to national security? Cue the ferocious debate.

Whether you see Julian Assange as a heroic figure or an enemy of the state (our editors are at both ends of that spectrum and everywhere in between), you are participating in a critical conversation about what it means to be a journalist in a world where secrecy is becoming increasingly implausible. As young journalists and as young people in general, it is up to us to navigate these complicated and unprecedented questions since we are the ones who have grown up during the digital information age. Though issues like WikiLeaks are complicated, the truth is that the questions will only get more difficult and nuanced as the world becomes increasingly interconnected.

Ultimately, it will be up to us all to redefine the boundaries of ethics, freedom and journalistic responsibility in the ever-evolving digital age. We have seen the decline of privacy in our personal lives by means of social networking, where we can often determine strangers’ addresses, phone numbers, family members’ names, political preferences and educational backgrounds by means of a simple Google or Facebook search. It isn’t surprising that this erosion of secrecy has extended to the government and matters of national security, but there are still more questions than answers as to the implications of this type of transparency. It is a daunting task to find these answers, but it is one that we must accept.

Even though it might be nightmare-inducing to start conversations like the one that spurred this editorial, it is imperative that these discussions continue, both in our own personal communities and on a larger, more global scale. The role of journalism has never been static, and our generation has a responsibility to ensure that journalists, the public’s government watchdogs, don’t fall behind as access to information surges forward. The world is changing quickly and we have no choice but to change with it; how we make that change is up to us.