Snowden spilled secrets to ‘fearless’ journalists
15 Aug 2013 5:14 AM IST
US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden said in an interview released today he chose to divulge details of a vast US surveillance effort to journalists who reported ‘fearlessly’ on controversial subjects.
Snowden, in the interview released by The New York Times, said he chose documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras and Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald because they were not cowed by the US government.
‘After 9/11, many of the most important news outlets in America abdicated their role as a check to power -- the journalistic responsibility to challenge the excesses of government -- for fear of being seen as unpatriotic and punished in the market during a period of heightened nationalism,’ Snowden was quoted as saying in an encrypted conversation with journalist Peter Maass for the Times Sunday magazine.
‘Laura and Glenn are among the few who reported fearlessly on controversial topics throughout this period, even in the face of withering personal criticism, and resulted in Laura specifically becoming targeted by the very programs involved in the recent disclosures.’
Snowden, in the interview released by The New York Times, said he chose documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras and Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald because they were not cowed by the US government.
‘After 9/11, many of the most important news outlets in America abdicated their role as a check to power -- the journalistic responsibility to challenge the excesses of government -- for fear of being seen as unpatriotic and punished in the market during a period of heightened nationalism,’ Snowden was quoted as saying in an encrypted conversation with journalist Peter Maass for the Times Sunday magazine.
‘Laura and Glenn are among the few who reported fearlessly on controversial topics throughout this period, even in the face of withering personal criticism, and resulted in Laura specifically becoming targeted by the very programs involved in the recent disclosures.’
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