Hillbilly WikiLeaks? Let's see how this goes...

[CoolBreeze]

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- A handful of freelance journalists and computer programmers are launching what they hope will become Appalachia's own version of WikiLeaks, a website where government and corporate whistle-blowers can anonymously share documents.

Honest Appalachia launched Tuesday, and co-founder and spokesman Jim Tobias says it will be a place where people can safely post information without fear of being identified as the source and suffering retaliation. Users download a software program to render their own computers anonymous, and the Honest Appalachia team then strips out other data that could make the document traceable.

Before the documents are posted online, Honest Appalachia staff will verify their legitimacy and will work with other journalists to publish it.

The team is concerned about integrity and committed to both objectivity and professionalism, Tobias said. They're just as focused on protecting the identity of the whistle-blowers, he said, as they are on ensuring documents aren't elaborate hoaxes.

"We don't want to put out anything that's not true," he said.

http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201201100232