If We Truly Have Freedom Of The Press, How Can Any News Be A "Leak"?

"Patriots always talk of dying for their country but never of killing for their country."
--Bertrand Russell

"Fuck the civilians."
--Richard Nixon

Russell, a mathematician and philosopher, was one of the great minds of the 20th Century. He was a hero of mine and I quote him often.
Nixon was a petty shyster who lied and cheated his way into the presidency and then lied and cheated himself right out of the presidency. I rarely quote him.

The above quote was Nixon's famous reply (to fellow criminal, Henry Kissinger) when told that his bombings in Vietnam and Cambodia were mostly killing civilians.
Given the Pentagon's cover-up of civilian deaths in Iraq exposed by WikiLeaks, I guess that not much has changed since the Nixon days.
The talking heads will continue debating the propriety of the WikiLeaks publications, but my simple question is this:
In an open society, how can revealing the truth ever be a bad thing?