@trelayne
Of all the classified information in existence, I'd guess that maybe 2% is classified for PR reasons. First of all, classification guidelines are normally developed well in advance of the generation of classified information. Those guidelines aren't remotely based on how embarrassing or incriminating the information is, nor are they prescient enough to be prepared for whatever boneheaded mistake a soldier or politician is going to make next. Without those guidelines, the information would be out there before it could be classified - once the information is out in the wild, classifying it doesn't do all that much good. It's only truly a leak if it was classified BEFORE it ended up on a wiki somewhere, and it's only classified before it becomes public if there is a classification guideline that says the information must be protected.
PR might (very rarely) play a role is why something is not DE-classified, but it's much more likely that something wasn't declassified simply because there wasn't time, money, or motivation to determine if it was worth the risk of putting the information out into the wild. It's a horrible idea for someone without the proper authority to decide for himself to "unofficially declassify" (leak) classified information, as that someone is almost definitely missing part of the picture that explains why the information needed to be protected in the first place. Releasing classified information is a crime for a reason, a very, very good reason. Bradley Manning belongs in jail.
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