Tuesday, June 11, 2013

How 'The Guardian' Got The NSA Surveillance Scoop

Guardian Makes Waves, And Is Ready For More -- New York Times

When Janine Gibson, the editor in chief of The Guardian’s Web site in the United States, realized that one of her columnists had a scoop about secret National Security Agency surveillance — potentially one of the biggest leaks in American intelligence history — she presented it to The Guardian’s top editor in London with classic British understatement.

“I’ve got a little story to chat to you about,” she told the editor, Alan Rusbridger.

Last week’s revelations about the extent of N.S.A. surveillance both in the United States and abroad is a major coup for the British news organization, which established a beachhead here less than two years ago. Mr. Rusbridger, who flew to New York from London last Wednesday in anticipation of the scoop, credits the story to the fact that The Guardian continues to invest in journalism when many news organization have cut back.

Read more ....

My Comment: It should be noted that the Washington Post was the first to have this exclusive .... but they declined to publish it.The Washington Post is blaming Edward Snowden's demands for the reason why they backed out .... but I am not convinced. I suspect that the Washington Post actually did know the significance of this leak .... but they were looking at it from a different angle .... i.e. how will reporting the leak impact the paper, the legal consequences, and will disclosing it change it's close relationship with the White House. The Guardian took a different route .... they saw the leak for what it was (a big scoop), and they jumped on it. As a result .... everyone is reading The Guardian .... and the Washington Post is now playing catch-up.

Update: Barton Gellman, Glenn Greenwald feud over NSA leaker -- Politico

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