Snowden says NSA targeted journalists critical of government

In the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations, critical journalism is terrorism -- at least to the NSA --

Snowden: NSA targeted journalists critical of government after 9/11 - The Hill's Blog Briefing Room: "“After 9/11, many of the most important news outlets in American 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,” he said." (more at link above)

Bottom line: the Fourth Estate, as such, no longer exists in the US, at least in the off-line world. One must seek out blogs and other sources online such as the Guardian.

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Snowden a hero or a traitor? Wrong question--but here's the answer

All journalism is advocacy (or it isn't) — BuzzMachine: " when a whistleblower knocks on your door, you must decide not whose side you’re on but whom and what principles you serve. This is a way to recast the specific argument journalists are having now about whether Snowden is a hero or a traitor. Wrong question. As a journalistic organization, the Guardian had to ask whether the public had a right to the information Snowden carried, no matter which side it benefitted (so long as the public’s interests — in terms of security — were not harmed)." (read more at link above)

Oh, and by the way, if Snowden were a "traitor"--he wouldn't be in Hong Kong, he would be in Beijing (or Moscow or Tehran or Havana or Pyongyang)--we know where traitors go.

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