Glenn Greenwald's Blog, page 53

The perfect epitaph for establishment journalism | Glenn Greenwald

'If MI5 warns that this is not in the public interest who am I to disbelieve them?', says the former editor of The Independent

Like many people, I've spent years writing and speaking about the lethal power-subservient pathologies plaguing establishment journalism in the west. But this morning, I feel a bit like all of that was wasted time and energy, because this new column by career British journalist Chris Blackhurst - an executive with and, until a few months ago, the editor of the UK daily...

Committee to Protect Journalists issues scathing report on Obama administration | Glenn Greenwald

Obama's anti-press measures 'are the most aggressive I've seen since the Nixon administration'

(updated below)

It's hardly news that the Obama administration is intensely and, in many respects, unprecedentedly hostile toward the news-gathering process. Even the most Obama-friendly journals have warned of what they call "Obama's war on whistleblowers". James Goodale, the former general counsel of the New York Times during its epic fights with the Nixon administration, recently observed that "Pre...

Brazil: Glenn Greenwald condemns 'war against journalism' at senate - video

Journalist Glenn Greenwald and his partner, David Miranda, address Brazilian senate over the NSA revelations

Glenn Greenwald

NSA and GCHQ target Tor network that protects anonymity of web users

• Top-secret documents detail repeated efforts to crack Tor
• US-funded tool relied upon by dissidents and activists
• Core security of network remains intact but NSA has some success attacking users' computers
• Bruce Schneier: the NSA's attacks must be made public
• Attacking Tor: the technical details
• 'Peeling back the layers with Egotistical Giraffe' –document
• 'Tor Stinks' presentation – full document
• Tor: 'The king of high-secure, low-latency anonymity'

The National Security Agency has mad...

The NSA debate is as much about journalism as surveillance | Glenn Greenwald

A 14-minute interview on BBC highlights the debate over the proper relationship between journalists and government

In late June, the economist Dean Baker astutely observed that our NSA reporting was "doing as much to expose corrupt journalism as to expose government spying." Indeed, from the earliest stages of this reporting, back in Hong Kong, we expected (and hoped) that the reporting we were about to do would expose conflicts in how journalism is understood and practiced as much as it would...

Reddit Q-and-A on NSA reporting | Glenn Greenwald

A 90-minute "ask me anything" feature with tech-savvy readers produces a fruitful discussion

(updated below)

This afternoon, along with Guardian US editor-in-chief Janine Gibson, I participated in Reddit's "ask me anything" feature, where the highest rated questions rise to the top and the guest answers each of them. The questions focused on our NSA reporting, and were largely smart and provocative. The full discussion can be read here.

UPDATE

For those who find the Reddit format difficult to nav...

Brian Williams' Iran propaganda | Glenn Greenwald

The NBC star tells his viewers that Iranian leaders are 'suddenly claiming they don't want nuclear weapons', even though they've been saying it for years

There is ample reason for skepticism that anything substantial will change in Iran-US relations, beginning with the fact that numerous US political and media figures are vested in the narrative that Iran is an evil threat whose desire for a peaceful resolution must not be trusted (and some hard-line factions in Iran are similarly vested in on...

Sen. Ron Wyden: NSA 'repeatedly deceived the American people' | Glenn Greenwald

About the Snowden disclosures, the Oregon Democrat told the NSA chief: 'the truth always manages to come out'

(updated below)

The Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday held a hearing, ostensibly to investigate various issues raised about the NSA's activities. What the hearing primarily achieved instead was to underscore what a farce the notion of Congressional oversight over the NSA is.

In particular, the current chair of the Senate Committee created in the mid-1970s to oversee the intelligen...

UK detention of Reprieve activist consistent with NSA's view of drone opponents as 'threats' and 'adversaries' | Glenn Greenwald

A top secret NSA document provides context for yesterday's abusive detention of Baraa Shiban

• Read the excerpts of the drone document here

A well-known and highly respected Yemeni anti-drone activist was detained yesterday by UK officials under that country's "anti-terrorism" law at Gatwick Airport, where he had traveled to speak at an event. Baraa Shiban, the project co-ordinator for the London-based legal charity Reprieve, was held for an hour and a half and repeatedly questioned about his a...

Various items: NSA stories around the world | Glenn Greenwald

Revelations continue to produce outcomes on multiple levels in numerous countries around the world

(updated below)

I'm still working at trying to get the next set of NSA stories published. That, combined with a rapidly approaching book deadline, will make non-NSA-article postings difficult for the next couple of weeks. Until then, here are a few items to note regarding a point I have often tried to make: namely, one of the most overlooked aspects of the NSA reporting in the US has been just how...