He called Friday's scandal over the US army's blocking of the Guardian website a prize of "a significant level above" a Pulitzer of a Peabody, pointing out the seeming contradiction that soldiers fighting for the country were considered mature and responsible enough to put their lives on the line, but clearly weren't "mature" enough to be exposed to the same information that the rest of the world was accessing.
"If you talk to anybody in journalism or in the government, they are petrified of even moving. It has been impossible to get anyone inside the government to call us back," said Greenwald, throwing some thought on the possible reasoning behind people contacting the press regarding the actions of government.
"If you look at who really hates Bradley Manning or who has expressed the most contempt about Wikileaks or who has led the chorus in demonizing Edward Snowden, it is those very people in the media who pretend to want transparency because transparency against political power is exactly what they don't want," he opined.
A general view of the large former monitoring base of the U.S. intelligence organization National Security Agency (NSA) in Bad Aibling south of Munich (Reuters/Michaela Rehle)
Greenwald finished by pointing out the increasing reluctance for people in government to even communicate with journalists, while highlighting the usage of the mass surveillance program to keep an eye on both dissident groups and Muslim communities.
"There's a climate of fear in exactly those factions that are most intended to put a check on those in power and that has been by design," Greenwald stated, saying that Snowden was a prime example that people could stand up to the government, and that there was no need to be afraid of publishing "whatever it is we think should be published in the public good."
"If you talk to anybody in journalism or in the government, they are petrified of even moving. It has been impossible to get anyone inside the government to call us back," said Greenwald, throwing some thought on the possible reasoning behind people contacting the press regarding the actions of government.
"If you look at who really hates Bradley Manning or who has expressed the most contempt about Wikileaks or who has led the chorus in demonizing Edward Snowden, it is those very people in the media who pretend to want transparency because transparency against political power is exactly what they don't want," he opined.
A general view of the large former monitoring base of the U.S. intelligence organization National Security Agency (NSA) in Bad Aibling south of Munich (Reuters/Michaela Rehle)
Greenwald finished by pointing out the increasing reluctance for people in government to even communicate with journalists, while highlighting the usage of the mass surveillance program to keep an eye on both dissident groups and Muslim communities.
"There's a climate of fear in exactly those factions that are most intended to put a check on those in power and that has been by design," Greenwald stated, saying that Snowden was a prime example that people could stand up to the government, and that there was no need to be afraid of publishing "whatever it is we think should be published in the public good."
Reuters/Pawel Kopczynsky
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