Is Wikileaks protected by "freedom of the press"?

Looks like the US is going to consider charges against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Lots of different news sources are reporting this possibility. http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/20/p...s-us-charges1008PMVODtopPhoto&linkId=36726469

So is Julian Assange part of the media? If not, then are citizen journalists part of the media? Does the 1st Amendment apply to materials in news sources? Is Wikileaks a news source?

Could arresting/attempting to arrest Assange have a serious affect on freedom of speech?

Or, since he is not a US citizen, does it not matter? But then what about reporters for French, British, German, etc newspapers, web-casters, etc?

FWIW, Wikileaks was unpopular with conservatives when Bush was president, but very popular with liberals. Then when Obama was President the tables turned and Wikileaks/Assange were heroes of conservatives while liberals bitched and moaned. Now we have Trump and he is unpopular again?

But Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, argued that US prosecution of Assange sets a dangerous precedent.

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I know many Conservatives pitch a bitch about the Civil Liberties Union but this is one reason I don't.

As long as he is in that embassy he is untouchable.
And even if he was out I'm sure that he would have the best legal counsel there is.
He would win the case and that would be a precedent, that would stop the government.
It's political posturing that the Trump government shouldn't engage in.
I hope that people call Trump on it on the "Twitter" that he seems to love so much.
Unless there is more to the story. Since that's a CNN story who knows what the rest of the story is.
CNN sure seems to use their Freedom Of The Press to publish crap.
"Fake News" maybe or a better term for it might be Propaganda?
In my opinion we probably will never know.

I know it's almost impossible in these times, but if you have something you don't want known publicly don't store it electronically!! That is what keeps wikileaks in business. Witness John Podesta's E-mails!!
Mike

Rumor is that France might give him citizenship. Might be the closest he gets to freedom - until the CIA offs him. He's probably the "safest" where he is now - but it is essentially a prison.

Who should be locked up?
I am missing something with this news flash....