Greenwald's and Co.: Freedom of the Press Foundation -

[Whisp]

https://pressfreedomfoundation.org/organizations

Organizations Featured in the Current Bundle

WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks is an independent, not-for-profit online publisher that works to defend freedom of speech, media publishing and the improvement of our common historical record.
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Bureau of Investigative Journalism

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism is an independent not-for-profit organization established in April 2010. The Bureau, which is philanthropically funded, is the first of its kind in the UK, and operates on the assumption that investigative journalism is indispensable to democracy.
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Center for Public Integrity

The Center for Public Integrity was founded in 1989 and is one of the country's oldest and largest nonpartisan, nonprofit investigative

Truthout

Truthout is a non-profit journalism organization dedicated to providing independent news and commentary on a daily basis. Their investigative reporting has focused on issues such as government secrecy surrounding the Guantanamo Bay prison, the militarization of law enforcement on the U.S.

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Can truthout be relied on to report neutrally, now that they are on this list. Does truthout get some of that donation money the site is calling in? If they do, how would they handle a story that goes contrary to what Greenwald has been saying?

More Checkbook journalism?

[Tarheel_Dem]

1. !!!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. “News is what somebody somewhere wants to suppress; all the rest is advertising.” Lord Northcliffe

[think]

3. Checkbook journalism? You talking about the main stream media or what?

Seriously the crap that passes for news currently in America is pathetic......

[Whisp]

6. Checkbook Journalism & Leaking to the Highest Bidders Sibel Edmonds | December 8, 2013:

http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2013/12/08/checkbook-journalism-leaking-to-the-highest-bidders/

The NSA Whistleblowing Case: Something is Awfully Rotten in the State of …?

Imagine a major government whistleblower who leaks his evidence and obtained documents to the highest bidders in the mainstream media and mega corporations. Does that sound awful, disgraceful and despicable? Okay. Now, imagine a pseudo journalist who obtains over 50,000 documents from a government whistleblower, and then takes some of this information and puts it out for bid, reserves a certain portion for a lucrative book deal, and saves the rest for a mega corporation that has a record of screwing whistleblowers. How does that sound? This is what I mean by the title of this commentary: Checkbook Journalism & Leaking to the Highest Bidders.

For the past twelve years I have been known as one of the most notorious government whistleblowers, even given the title of The Most Classified Person in the History of the United States by a civil liberties organization. I am the founder and director of a whistleblower organization that includes over 150 national security whistleblowers. I have known and represented over 150 national security whistleblowing cases in Congress and the media. And let me tell you this, I have never seen a case that even comes close to this bizarrely unethical and despicable case.

A government whistleblower obtains over 50,000 pages of documents that implicate the government in severely illegal and unconstitutional practices. This whistleblower risks everything, including fleeing the country, in order to leak these documents and let the public know how its government has been breaking the nation’s laws and violating their rights. So he goes to another country and then entrusts all this evidence to a few reporters and wanna-be journalists. Why does he do that? He does it so that these reporters will present all this information to the public: not only those in the United States, but everyone all over the world. Think about it. Why else would someone risk everything, including his own life, to obtain and leak such documents? Are you thinking? Because what would be the point to all this, to taking all these risks, if 99% of these documents remain secret and hidden from the public? Ludicrous, right?

Now, here is what happens next: The whistleblower hands over these documents, and goes through a surreal escape journey. So surreal that even Hollywood could not have matched it. Of the handful of reporters who were entrusted with 50,000 documents, a few do nothing. By that I mean absolutely nothing. A couple from this entrusted group does a little bit more. They meet with a few mainstream media outlets, they spend many hours around the table with their mega companies’ mega attorneys and U.S. government mega representatives (the same government that is implicated in these documents). Then what happens? Here is what happens:

During the six-month period since they received the documents and the whistleblower’s story broke, the supposed-journalists released 1% (One Percent) of these documents:

[Whisp]

7. kick for this excellent piece by Edmonds ^

[Luminous Animal]

10. Whistleblower Mark Klein does not like being used by Edmonds

To Sibel Edmonds, Feb. 1, 2014

Your latest diatribe aimed at the heroic Edward Snowden, “The Entire NSA Cache Exposed Once and For All” (Jan. 31, 2014), is a ridiculously absurd attempt to denigrate Snowden's exposure of the NSA threat, suggesting that his contribution amounts to nothing new.

I have admired your whistleblowing work for some time, but this latest effort, which has turned into a virtual campaign to smear the integrity of not only Snowden but also leading journalists like Glenn Greenwald (who you call a “Mega Charlatan”), baffles me for its vacuousness and viciousness. It certainly is not helpful in defending Snowden and Greenwald who, I am sure you know, are in the target sights of the most powerful imperial power on earth.

And I do not appreciate your invoking my name in your campaign, as if previous whistleblowers have been unjustly deprived of the glory taken selfishly by Snowden. You list Katherine Gunn, Russell Tice, William Binney and myself in the list of whistleblowers who have already revealed, in your apparent view, everything there is to know about NSA spying. You whine that Snowden “wants all the credit” for the revelations about NSA—have you even met him? Your tone has the quality of sour grapes.

I notice you omitted from that list Thomas Drake, the NSA whistleblower who recently went to Moscow to meet with Snowden and joined in the ceremony led by Ray McGoverrn, Jesselyn Radack and Coleen Rowley to confer on Snowden the Sam Adams award for Integrity in Intelligence. Are you saying those whistleblowers were mistaken in making the award? Your last diatribe, Dear Mr. Snowden, It’s Time to Come Out & Take a Stand Publicly as to Your Intentions (Dec. 15, 2013), would be laughable if it was not so pernicious: hasn't Snowden “come out” enough for you? He's made his intentions quite clear, so much so that Washington wants to throw him in a dungeon or even kill him.

https://sites.google.com/site/markklein2009/Home/letter-to-sibel-edmonds

[struggle4progress]

12. She nailed wazzisname

[WorseBeforeBetter]

9. How much are they suggesting Greenwald paid Snowden for the story?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chequebook_journalism

Notable examples[edit]

Some notable examples of cases involving chequebook journalism include:[7]
1977: David Frost paying Richard Nixon $US600,000 for The Nixon Interviews
1985: the Nine Network paying Lindy Chamberlain A$250,000 for the exclusive rights to her story[7]
1991: James Scott received A$250,000 for his story about being lost in the Himalayas for 43 days[7]
1995: Bob Hawke and Blanche d'Alpuget received A$200,000[7]
1997: the Seven Network paid rescued British solo yachtsman Tony Bullimore A$100,000 for his story about being trapped in his overturned vessel in the Southern Ocean.[7][8]
1997: the Seven Network paying Stuart Diver A$250,000 for his story about the Thredbo landslide in 1997[7]
2005: the Ten Network paying Douglas Wood A$400,000 (and promising "some control over the final program&quot for his story about being kidnapped and held hostage in Iraq[7]
2013: NBC News pays for sky-diving accident footage[9]

Or are we all not even in agreement as to what constitutes "checkbook journalism"?

[Luminous Animal]

11. Greenwald says that he receives the standard freelance journalist rate...$1000 - $2000

per article.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

13. I'm posting this to read tomorrow when I'm more alert...

I don't want to spend hours tonight chasing links.

http://coto2.wordpress.com/2013/12/25/checkbook-journalism-leaking-to-the-highest-bidders-bfp-roundtable/

Edmonds refers to Greenwald as a "greasy checkbook reporter" and she's to be taken seriously? That's on par with the nonsense spewed at the crap cheerleading blogs peddled here.

Wow, this is rather pathetic:

You see, this was not the case initially, not during the first couple of months prior to signing deals with mega corporate new sugar daddies and mega publishers for the book deals. Here is the triple-talking, mud-making and fudge-creating wanna-be journalist on June 26, 2013, the month the public saga began:

Seriously, what sort of audience finds that writing style appealing?

And in keeping with the post above re: "sour grapes":

Further, no one is asking the crucial question: With the mega publishing corporations’ record, how is it that they are willing to publish classified government documents? Do you know what these same publishers said about my own book? Here is what they said:

“without the approval by the FBI-DOJ prepublication review board we will not publish your book. The government will come after us.”

So, isn’t it amazing that an American mega publisher, a mainstream American publisher, is giving millions to publish a book that will reveal US government classified material? I can tell you from experience and with one hundred percent certainty: the publisher has the government’s consent. How does that bear with the claims that this checkbook reporter is under arrest and even death threats by the U.S. government? Let me tell you something: it does not. What it tells you is this: A Dog & Pony Show put on by the U.S. government and its agents.

It's apparent that some on this site have a hard-on for Pitt/Truthout, so the grapes are even more sour. It's all way too personal, with not enough focus on the actual issues. To quote the one and only commenter of this Edmonds piece: "Sibel, get a grip."

[TheMathieu]

4. Everyone has a nonprofit and a blog to play activist/reporter these days.

Trying so hard to be the heroes of the 60's to which they will always pale in comparison.

It's pathetic, really.

I'll stick to that "lamestream" media the fringe in this country hate so much.

[Mojorabbit]

5. Sigh. nt

[Whisp]

8. kick

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/greenwald-snowden-book-bullshit

Looks like scammy Greeny doesn't like the competition for making money off of Snowden.

[Whisp]

14. ...

[riderinthestorm]

15. Will Pitt, senior editor at Truthout and DU member is now just a greedy narcissist too?

Damn him for making money writing stories!!!11!!!11

He'll be so glad you've exposed him as nothing more than a shill for Snowden's nefarious plans to overthrow Obama's Admin!111!!!

[Whisp]

16. Will Truthout be able to have a neutral reporting stance if they are associated in this way with GG

I think that is a fair question.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

17. Why not?

[riderinthestorm]

19. I think Will Pitt and Truthout are in good company here.

Bet they're glad you've given them free advertising.

[whatchamacallit]

18. This is where Greenwald Derangement Syndrome leads

Willful ignorance. Congrats!