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einar writes:
Irish Times has an article quoting Guardian deputy editor, Paul Johnson, that the Guardian was threatened to be closed by the British government. According to Johnson, the Snowden leak was the most difficult story the Guardian has ever done.
As a reminder, the newspaper was walking a tightrope keeping the balance between giving in where necessary and defending the freedom of press in a country where this right is rather weak. During the Snowden leaks, even PCs were destroyed in the presence of GCHQ agents. All in the name of national security.
From the article:
Mr Johnson said the whole attitude in the UK was that national security trumped press freedom and that the newspaper should not publish a word. This was in contrast to the US, where the Snowden revelations had led to a debate about how far intelligence agencies should go to protect the state.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Pav on Thursday March 27 2014, @11:27PM
In the USA "freedom of speech" is the right to speak, and the right to lie. Sometimes I think the British have a better balance - Murdoch is forced to tap phones in Britain because he can't just import the "Fox formula" ie. flatout lying - he'd be sued for defamation. Consequently the British have a greater respect for facts (or so it seems from afar), and certain British media brands garner far more respect worldwide than anything from the USA eg. BBC, Guardian etc... not so much the Daily Mail, although certain US journalists certainly do excellent work and are their own brands.
Still, this is the dark side of that policy. I hope the British media jump on this and punish the politicians.