CNN Money ran a series on hackers recently, one which had all the usual mainstream biases. There was the assumption that all hackers working for corporations were “good hackers”… the assumption that encrypted communication protects terrorists… and the assumption that there are easily-identifiable “good guys” and “bad guys” to begin with… with the government and the NSA being the good guys of course.
Part of the series, CNN Money tracked down and interviewed an alleged Anonymous hacker. Surprisingly, the mainstream outlet covered the story in a fair manner, asking reasonable questions. It also explained that members of Anonymous hackers often disagree on potential targets, and that they hack for differing reasons and ideologies- avoiding the mainstream assumption that Anonymous behaves as a conventional organisation does with leaders and a singular ideology.
