WikiLeaks, an organization that helps whistle-blowers stay anonymous, has released a video of a U.S. helicopter killing 12 civilians. On April 5, WikiLeaks, an organization that helps whistle-blowers leak sensitive documents and other media, leaked a classified video of a helicopter gunner killing more than 12 people in New Baghdad, an Iraqi suburb. Two of the people killed were Reuters news staff. Two young children were also wounded. Shortly after the video was put online, a senior U.S. military official verified the authenticity of the video to the AP.

Josh Stieber is a former soldier in Bravo Company 2-16, whose members were involved in the actions in the video.

“If these videos shock and revolt you, they show the reality of what war is like,” he said in a press release on Commondreams.org. “If you don’t like what you see in them, it means we should be working harder towards alternatives to war.”

WikiLeaks has changed the world of journalism in the past couple of years. For instance, after the BBC ran a story about toxic dumping on the Ivory Coast, Trafigura, a metals and energy trading company, then sued the BBC for libel.

Later, the British newspaper The Guardian was going to run a story before Trafigura’s lawyers obtained a secret “super-injunction,” in which a news outlet may not even report that they have been silenced.

A leaked internal report from Trafigura confirming that harmful chemicals were in the dumping was then posted on WikiLeaks just a few days later.

This allowed evidence of toxic materials being dumped to get out, despite legal efforts in the U.K.

Julian Assange, one of the co-founders of WikiLeaks, believes WikiLeaks complements the role of journalists.

“Our material requires additional investment,” said Assange in an interview on the blog Stefanmey.wordpress.com. “So when we release an important leak, it requires an important, intelligent journalist who is politically well connected.” Assange believes WikiLeaks’ role is to be a primary source for journalists and not to replace them.

“It is time journalists and publishers started actually engaging in ‘fearless journalism’ rather than simply placing the words on their mastheads,” said Assange to Wired.com.

“Imagine a world where companies and government must keep the public, or their employees, or both, happy with their plans and behavior,” he said. “That is the world we are striving to create.