This is a good point. Of course anyone who thought the MSM, or print journalism, were in business to reveal the actual truth really needs to review their history. The worst part is that Julian (whether intentionally or not) probably made that sacrifice for nothing. At least here in the US most people don't know or care. That's a shame. And an embarrassment.
I had a second part to my comment about how web3 was the answer, but the public have been largely convinced that it's synonymous with get rich quick schemes or a worse version of Twitter. Where is the next WikiLeaks?
He could just stop fighting the extradition unless there are concerns he wouldn’t get a fair trial in the US. I haven’t heard of such concerns and he could probably get a solid legal defense team with private donations.
I have no particular viewpoint regarding Assange, but depending on your understanding of "fair", there are probably many whose fairness can be questioned. Partiality of judges, imbalance of legal team budgets, etc. Look at any case brought up by a patent troll against a small/medium business.
One case that personally always bothers me was regarding the murder of Philando Castile.