"One year ago today we put our beliefs before our lives, released Cablegate and changed the world." WikiLeaks tweeted today.

The organisation has just won a major Australian prize for journalistic excellence, the Walkley Award for 'Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism'. The Walkley Foundation stated that Wikileaks has earned this recognition of its "courageous and controversial commitment to the finest traditions of journalism: justice through transparency".

The release of US diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks is often viewed as one of the most radical events in journalism, with many supporters claiming that the information revealed by the cables contributed to the end of the war in Iraq and helped spark the Tunisian uprisings which then spread to become the phenomenon widely referred to as the 'Arab Spring'.

The success of Wikileaks has led to many people seeing this kind of online-based leaking system as a new model for journalism; but one that is not without its flaws.

For one, there are the financial difficulties of the WikiLeaks struggle. The US banking blockade that has starved the organisation of cash has effectively muzzled the entire operation, as they are presently unable to disclose any more leaks due to financial constraints. Assange recently told a press conference that the enterprise would need $3.5 million in order to disclose information in their position over the next 12 months. It has also been forced to postpone the launch of its new submissions system, which was due to go live yesterday, due to the fact that "constructing the system is very complex" and to "the deteriorating state of Internet security".

The daring and controversial breeches of state security that have occurred in the name of WikiLeaks have not only had extreme political ramifications, but have also affected the lives of individuals involved. Private First Class Bradley Manning, for instance, who helped leak information from the American military has only just received a trial date after being detained for 569 days in a military brig in Kuwait. Despite the 22 offences Manning is being tried for, a White House Inquiry, the verdict of which was released yesterday, has stated that Manning's leak to WikiLeaks actually posed no threat to national security.

Clearly this has prompted a great deal of speculation around the future of WikiLeaks; the uncertain future of the organisation is the subject of intense debate, even amongst academics. In fact, the London School of Economics is hosting a public lecture delivered by Charlie Beckett to discuss how the organisation has transformed journalism and whether, if its decline is terminal, the world of journalism will miss the notorious whistle blower that is WikiLeaks.

Sources: Editors Weblog, FT.com (1), (2), The Guardian, LSE Blogs, Twitter: Wikileaks, Walkleys.com (1), (2), YouTube