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Glenn Greenwald Declares Independence from Journalistic Tyranny

  Glenn Greenwald, co-founder of the Intercept and best known as one of the journalists who interviewed Edward Snowden prior to Snowden’s es...

 

Glenn Greenwald, co-founder of the Intercept and best known as one of the journalists who interviewed Edward Snowden prior to Snowden’s escape to Russia, fired a shot today at the corruption and rot that is permeating journalism. In a surprise move, Glenn resigned from the Intercept, his creation, because the editors refused to let him tell the truth about Joe Biden and his grifting ways.

Here are the salient points of Glenn’s announcement:

Today I sent my intention to resign from The Intercept, the news outlet I co-founded in 2013 with Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras, as well as from its parent company First Look Media.

The final, precipitating cause is that The Intercept’s editors, in violation of my contractual right of editorial freedom, censored an article I wrote this week, refusing to publish it unless I remove all sections critical of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, the candidate vehemently supported by all New-York-based Intercept editors involved in this effort at suppression.

The censored article, based on recently revealed emails and witness testimony, raised critical questions about Biden’s conduct. Not content to simply prevent publication of this article at the media outlet I co-founded, these Intercept editors also demanded that I refrain from exercising a separate contractual right to publish this article with any other publication.

Glenn Greenwald is a gay man, he lives in Brazil and he would be considered a Democrat politically. But he also is a man of principle, integrity and courage. He first gained a following because of his insightful, hard hitting pieces on the George W. Bush debacle in Iraq. Later on he gained more notoriety and fame as one of two people to report on the intelligence trove smuggled out by Edward Snowden that revealed a massive level of spying on American citizens.

Then came Russiagate and Donald Trump. Bucking the conventional journalist wisdom, Glenn Greenwald was one of the few on the left to call bullshit on what we now know was a manufactured scandal and a soft coup attempt–i.e., Vladimir Putin had Donald Trump under his thumb. Glenn’s record in challenging the Russia hoax stands as a reminder that there are a few real journalists, a small few, still alive and working.  But he is an endangered species.

Glenn’s declaration of independence from the stranglehold of deep state stenography, which masquerades as journalism, is worth your time to read. This snippet reveals the heart and intelligence of Glenn as he explains why he is essentially killing the corporate child he helped father:

This was not an easy choice: I am voluntarily sacrificing the support of a large institution and guaranteed salary in exchange for nothing other than a belief that there are enough people who believe in the virtues of independent journalism and the need for free discourse who will be willing to support my work by subscribing.

Like anyone with young children, a family and numerous obligations, I do this with some trepidation, but also with the conviction that there is no other choice. I could not sleep at night knowing that I allowed any institution to censor what I want to say and believe — least of all a media outlet I co-founded with the explicit goal of ensuring this never happens to other journalists, let alone to me, let alone because I have written an article critical of a powerful Democratic politician vehemently supported by the editors in the imminent national election.

But the pathologies, illiberalism, and repressive mentality that led to the bizarre spectacle of my being censored by my own media outlet are ones that are by no means unique to The Intercept. These are the viruses that have contaminated virtually every mainstream center-left political organization, academic institution, and newsroom. I began writing about politics fifteen years ago with the goal of combatting media propaganda and repression, and — regardless of the risks involved — simply cannot accept any situation, no matter how secure or lucrative, that forces me to submit my journalism and right of free expression to its suffocating constraints and dogmatic dictates.

Glenn makes this move with no guarantee that he has a financial future. He is not being reckless. He is behaving as a patriot. The same spirit that moved men such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin to risk their lives and fortunes to fight British tyranny, burns in the soul of Glenn Greenwald. He is a patriot taking up symbolic arms in defense of freedom of thought and liberty. I stand with him and I immediately subscribed to his new platform. Glenn and I will differ on political issues. But we share this in common. We are Americans and we believe fervently in a free and unfettered press.