> Most people saw how the sausage was made and decided they still liked sausage.
> I'm not sure that's really true. All of the stuff Snowden and Assange leaked was very much down-played by the popular media - it felt like it was very under-reported and even then with a fair bit of bias.
It was not at all played down, especially not Snowden, it was rolling 24 hour news for weeks, they still try and drum up some drama over it whenever they get a chance.
The problem is, people dont care. I feel genuinely sad that Snowden blew up his life, and outside of a few privacy communities nothing has changed. Everyone agrees it is wrong, but they dont care, you are a traitor if you dont believe it has to be done.
He should have won a Nobel prize and been given a ticker tape parade for blowing the whistle, but instead he is holed up in Russia, the illegal spying goes on, and the people call for more spying at every turn.
The story that was rolling on the 24 hour news for weeks wasn't about the contents of the leaks. It was all about Snowden.
If you wanted to know what the leaks said, you basically had to go to the source materials. If you wanted to hear some talking head give his opinion about whether or not Snowden did "treason," who more often than not said it was, you didn't have to work very hard.
The fact that he leaked "sensitive and classified" information about "NSA collaboration with major tech companies" was about the maximum extent that most outlets reported when they were pressed to. The framing was to make it look like "this is their mission anyway" and to focus on the "leaking of these classified reports" rather than attempt to report on the specifics on how the natsec state undermines our rights as citizens.
This wasn't just a case of the partisan press with whom you disagree. This was the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
I was rather young at the time so maybe I didnt capture all of the media coverage. But I remember the media coverage of Snowden was more of a 'where in the world is snowden' rather than actually about the content he published.
> I'm not sure that's really true. All of the stuff Snowden and Assange leaked was very much down-played by the popular media - it felt like it was very under-reported and even then with a fair bit of bias.
It was not at all played down, especially not Snowden, it was rolling 24 hour news for weeks, they still try and drum up some drama over it whenever they get a chance.
The problem is, people dont care. I feel genuinely sad that Snowden blew up his life, and outside of a few privacy communities nothing has changed. Everyone agrees it is wrong, but they dont care, you are a traitor if you dont believe it has to be done.
He should have won a Nobel prize and been given a ticker tape parade for blowing the whistle, but instead he is holed up in Russia, the illegal spying goes on, and the people call for more spying at every turn.