back to article NSA reporter leaves paper for eBay billionaire backed media biz

Glenn Greenwald, the reporter who broke the NSA surveillance story, is leaving British daily The Guardian to join a mysterious new eBay billionaire-backed publication. The American journalist has been a thorn in the NSA's side ever since he worked on the release of documents leaked by its contracted sysadmin Edward Snowden, …

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  1. Khaptain Silver badge

    Wikileaks 2 ?

    This time without Assange...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Wikileaks 2 ?

      eLeaks?

  2. dogged

    Sounds good.

    Omidyar has money to burn. He might manage something of the quality of al Jazeera without the unfortunate associations.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Sounds good.

      You mean like endangering people's lives like the Snowden leaks did... is that really good journalism?

      1. Wallyb132

        Re: Sounds good.

        "You mean like endangering people's lives like the Snowden leaks did... is that really good journalism?"

        And who's lives would that be? The only life Snowden endangered was his own, outside of that, nothing that has been released to date has endangered anyone's life, or weakened national security or anything else of that nature as the government would like you to believe. The only thing Snowden's leaks have done is shown the world just how slimy and full if shit our governments are.

        His leaks haven't even really revealed things that weren't already known, they just confirmed it. The only people truly affected by his leaks are the tinfoil hat crowd, because now they get to run around saying see i told you so! and here we all thought they were just crazy....

      2. Moshe
        WTF?

        Re: Sounds good.

        Seriously ? *Who* has been endangered ? Other than embarrasing liars in Government who have been exposed for a mass surveillance scheme which would make even Big Brother blush, I find it impossible to see how we're all going to die because of this revelation. By all UK media accounts they need not worry as the UK populace swallows whatever nonsense 'oh Snowden will kill us all by letting the terrorists and paedophiles and even the terrorist paedophiles be nasty to us' statements we're fed. Grow up and watch the Greenwald Newsnight interview where he wipes the floor with Kirsty Wark for spouting the Government nonsense about us all being at risk now. She even seems to take a quick homophobic swipe for good measure making the whole thing embarrasing to watch. This will get you started :

        http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/alistairfairweather/2013/10/07/glenn-greenwald-vs-newsnight-when-did-the-bbc-become-the-lackeys-of-the-security-state/

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Black Helicopters

        Re: Sounds good.

        "Endangering lives"? Did Keith Alexander or Dianne Feinstein die of embarrassment while I wasnt paying attention?

        Talking about endangering lives, the NSA/Five Eyes efforts to undermine encryption are probably going to endanger the lives of activists and dissidents who will get outed by big brother.

        1. Sir Runcible Spoon

          Re: Sounds good.

          The governments line on Snowdens leaks undermining the spooks abilities are bullshit.

          I work in the security field, and although I've only thought about it in the background, there are holes in just about every possible way I can think of to circumvent the snooping, even using Bruce's 5 tips wouldn't guarantee a snoop-free session, and you only have to trip up once to provide a key to unlock the rest.

          Bruce:

          "My five tips suck. They are not things the average person can use. One of them is to use PGP [a data-encryption program]. But my mother can’t use PGP. Maybe some people who read your publication will use my tips, but most people won’t.

          Basically, the average user is screwed. You can’t say “Don’t use Google”—that’s a useless piece of advice. Or “Don’t use Facebook,” because then you don’t talk to your friends, you don’t get invited to parties, you don’t get laid. It’s like libertarians saying “Don’t use credit cards”; it just doesn’t work in the real world.

          The Internet has become essential to our lives, and it has been subverted into a gigantic surveillance platform. The solutions have to be political. The best advice for the average person is to agitate for political change."

  3. tom dial Silver badge

    Greenwald seems to have feathered his nest rather nicely. One is left to wonder whether he'll share any with Snowden.

    1. AbelSoul

      Re: One is left to wonder whether he'll share any with Snowden.

      Given that Snowden was the pro-active party, Greenwald has no financial obligations towards Snowden (other than altruism, of course).

      1. Old Handle

        Re: One is left to wonder whether he'll share any with Snowden.

        In fact, it seems to me that would be ethically problematic. Possibly for Greenwald (paying sources has a mixed reputation at best) and certainly for Snowden. As it is, I think even people who disapprove of his actions would mostly agree that he was motivated by doing what he thought was right. But if he profits from it, he'll start to look less like a hero and more like a thief in many people's eyes.

        1. tom dial Silver badge

          Re: One is left to wonder whether he'll share any with Snowden.

          I wonder who is paying his room and board right now. Booz Allen probably not, and I would guess he has trouble making savings withdrawals. Who better than Glenn Greenwald, who appears to be the big winner here for not a lot of work and little risk?

  4. Tim Brown 1
    Paris Hilton

    hmm...

    Accumulating an $8.5bn fortune via capitalist enterprise and being genuinely left-wing are not two characteristics that often go hand-in-hand.

  5. Paul 164

    Politics

    Another news outlet owned by someone who wants to shape politics and law based on their own interests!

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