Exclusive: Glenn Greenwald Will Leave Guardian To Create New News Organization

[Newsjock]

Source: BuzzFeed

Glenn Greenwald, the lawyer and blogger who brought the Guardian the biggest scoop of the decade, is departing the London-based news organization, for a brand new, large-scale, broadly-focused media outlet, he told BuzzFeed Tuesday.

Greenwald, 46, published revelations from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden about the extent of American and British domestic spying and about officials deception about its scope. He said he is departing for a new, “once-in-a-career dream journalistic opportunity” with major financial backing whose details will be public soon.

“My partnership with the Guardian has been extremely fruitful and fulfilling: I have high regard for the editors and journalists with whom I worked and am incredibly proud of what we achieved,” Greenwald said in an emailed statement. “The decision to leave was not an easy one, but I was presented with a once-in-a-career dream journalistic opportunity that no journalist could possibly decline.”

Greenwald said that because the news had leaked “before we were prepared to announce it, I’m not yet able to provide any details of this momentous new venture.” It will, he said, “be unveiled very shortly.”

Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/exclusive-glenn-greenwald-will-leave-guardian-to-create-new

[polichick]

1. Details should be interesting.

[brooklynite]

2. How very....."Beck"ian...of him

[AtheistCrusader]

23. Not likely.

[geek tragedy]

3. I would expect 100% transparency regarding who's funding this venture nt

[Blue_Tires]

17. I will say that bureaus in N.Y., D.C. and S.F. ain't gonna be cheap

so he has some lofty ambitions and big money behind it...

[msanthrope]

25. Don't bet on it. nt

[tridim]

4. LOL.

Will it air in on Ron Paul TeeVee?

[Stay calm buddy]

7. What is the comparison between Jeff Gannon and Glenn Greenwald? nt

[idwiyo]

14. Care to elaborate?

[20score]

15. Is this a knock at Greenwald. Please answer so i can respond correctly.

[muriel_volestrangler]

31. That's a supremely dumbfuck post

Congratulations, it must have taken a lot of flexibility to reach that low in the barrel. So you're comparing Greenwald to a male escort who used questions to make stupid pro-Bush, pro-war points? In what way whatsoever is that like Greenwald?

[idwiyo]

63. So, what is this post - total stupidity or homophobic bigotry? Seems like the later...

[Archae]

65. Dumb remark by me.

I don't trust Greenwald too much, he seems to be more of a glory-hound than a reporter.

[Luminous Animal]

68. Gotta whack those moles whenever they stick their heads up!

[Burf-_-]

8. Hmmmmmm.....

Glen , so far you have been solid. Can we count on you to keep it real ?

[KoKo]

9. Can't wait to hear the details. Glad that he will have this opportunity at

this time when real Investigative Reporting from a fresh viewpoint is so sorely needed.

At this point he's done all he could at the Guardian and this sounds a challenging and rewarding new venture to apply his talents.

to Glenn!

[Luminous Animal]

11. He's come quite a long way from his blog Unclaimed Territory to running his own media outlet!

Amazing and well deserved.

[Blue_Tires]

16. I'm interested to know the scope and range of his intended coverage...

guess we'll find out soon enough...

[VanillaRhapsody]

26. and if its Fox News?

[Mojorabbit]

40. Well said! nt

[Tarheel_Dem]

10. I'm sure his Russian financial backers will be pleased to pieces.

[VanillaRhapsody]

27. That's it! RTV!!!!!

wouldn't that be ironic!

[Tarheel_Dem]

29. Wherever he lands, rest assured he'll be BRIC funded. "Bank" on it!

[Luminous Animal]

39. Nope.

Among his ventures is Honolulu Civil Beat, a news website covering public affairs in Hawaii. Civil Beat aimed to create a new online journalism model with paid subscriptions and respectful comment threads, though it is unclear how successful it has been.

Omidyar, a French-born Iranian-American, also founded the Democracy Fund to support "social entrepreneurs working to ensure that our political system is responsive to the public," according to its website.

Omidyar's active Twitter account suggests he is very concerned about the government spying programs exposed by Greenwald and Snowden.

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE99E18D20131015?irpc=932

[2banon]

67. What is it with the Red Baiting here?

With the exception of certain quarters, i.e. john birchers et al, I haven't seen this kind of red baiting shite since, um I dunno 50 years.

[Luminous Animal]

69. It is pretty hilarious. I feel like I'm 7 years old!

Rooskies, Chinamen, and Libertarians! Oh my!
Rooskies, Chinamen, and Libertarians! Oh my!
Rooskies, Chinamen, and Libertarians! Oh my!

Coming up on DU:

The Chinese are inscrutable
The Mexicans are lazy
The French stink
The Italians are gangsters
The Irish are drunks
The Spanish have a fiery temper
The Australians are criminals

The rest does not exist.

[Blue_Tires]

79. You must not have been around on DU back in the day

during the global marches against the invasion of Iraq...

[Demeter]

12. Be VERY careful, Mr. Greenwald

It sounds like a set-up, and I wouldn't be surprised if you found yourself in way too much hot water....

[Blue_Tires]

20. How is being your own boss and having total editorial control a "set-up?"

[VanillaRhapsody]

28. ask Glenn Beck!

[Demeter]

43. The control is $$$$$$

Never forget that.

[20score]

13. The non-thinking reprobates will attack him personally no matter what he does.

So, I wish him the best of luck.

Ad hominem away, oh reactionaries of little thought.

[Blue_Tires]

18. I got ad hominem'd for suggesting he might be exploiting this for personal gain

and using the un-released data as a bargaining chip...

So far I've been proven right...

[Luminous Animal]

19. Have you criticized Barton Gellman of the Washington Post who has also been offered a book

deal based on Snowden docs?

You've proved nothing but your own bias.

[Blue_Tires]

22. I missed the part where Gellman had full access to the data

since only Greenwald and Poitras can claim that...

And what is my supposed "bias"? I've never had any issue with the story itself, just the monopolizing of the un-released data...

The funny part is anyone who supports the NSA revelations and claims to be a staunch believer in the public's right to know should be screaming at the top of their lungs for the complete data to be released to the world, and NOT when SnowWald feels like it...Strangely enough, I seem to be the only person on DU who believes this...

[Luminous Animal]

24. So, you think Poitras and Greenwald should renege on their agreements with Snowden?

You think that they should backstab their source?

Personally, if they have info that could get people killed, I prefer they not publish. If they have technical info that would allow another government, say China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, or Russia, etc. to advance their technology in order to spy on their dissidents more effectively, I'd prefer they not publish.

That is the sort of info that Snowden requested be withheld. Information that would cause harm.

The goal is to put an end to NSA as we know it. The goal isn't to get people imprisoned or killed.

[Blue_Tires]

33. They're not going to put an end to the NSA, CIA and covert warfare with penny-ante stories...

and it doesn't mean they can't dump the stuff which has no clear and present danger to harm lives...

The "NSA spying heavily on ordinary citizens" -shtick only has so much mileage in generating public outrage...You want to get the public pissed off? Show the people directly getting rich off of it, show all the times NSA intelligence has gotten the wrong people killed, show how much waste in tax dollars is spent in propping up the whole system, show how much collaboration the NSA has had with corporate America, etc...

If I were a completely jaded cynic (and I'm not), I'd say the "Snowden requested some info be withheld because it could cause harm" -excuse could easily be read as "Snowden negotiated or was coerced into a deal to make sure these things are never seen by the public"... I'm just sayin'

[Mojorabbit]

41. I think only an idiot would release all the info at once

The slow release keeps it in the news cycles. It is smart as can be to do it this way in my opinion.

[Luminous Animal]

42. Yep. Have you noticed that western reporting about the cables have all but

disappeared?

Wikileaks volunteers still sift through them and compile them by country and publish regular updates but the MSM doesn't give a shit any more.

[Blue_Tires]

75. There's no need to "keep it in the news cycles"

when Greenwald will soon have total control over his own outlet...

I just believe in the people's right to know, and being spoon-fed 'slow releases' periodically runs counter to that...

[Mojorabbit]

76. Oh but I think there is

The attention span of the media and most citizens it seems gets shorter by the year. Whether of not he has control of an outlet, the method is sound.

[Luminous Animal]

77. As Greenwald has explained many times... slow releases are not a matter

of design but necessity. He claims (as does Gellman at WaPo) that the information in the documents is very complex and he has elicited the assistance of cyber-security experts to help interpret and organize the information.

It is not a matter of "spoon-feeding" but rather, it is a matter of accuracy in order to avoid mistakes that would put the NSA and the surveillance state defenders at an advantage.

[Blue_Tires]

78. I just hope that he hires enough researchers and experts

to start churning out pieces a bit more often than he does now...I also hope they prioritize pieces much bigger than the ones I've read the past few weeks...

[grantcart]

32. not a fan of GG but there is nothing wrong with him leveraging his work

for equity in a new enterprise.

Whether it is good or not will be determined on the product that they deliver.

[Comrade Grumpy]

21. "The biggest scoop of the decade." No amount of whistling past the graveyard will change that.

[onehandle]

30. Meh. nt

[madrchsod]

34. maybe he has some big money investors

it`s going to cost bales of money to set up a news organization. good luck glenn!

[KoKo]

35. There MUST BE SOME...SOME folks who have Big Money who have SOULS

Ya' THINK? Or Consciences that niggle and gnaw at them in their Night Time Dreams?

I go back to Charles Dickens Stories for the IMAGES of HAUNTED WALL STREETERS...TECH BAZILLIONAIRES......

When you lose your SOUL of CARING....then WHAT ARE YOU? A "BOT?" An "Algorithm?"

It's gotta hit home eventually...but...maybe not with this crowd who are a new breed of cutting edge...I made mine....you deserve "NOTHING."

[Luminous Animal]

38. It's eBay founder Omidyar

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE99E18D20131015?irpc=932

[Sunlei]

36. who is the "major financial backing" ? is it the same person who pays snowdens bills?

[Luminous Animal]

37. Sorry Greenwald haters. It's being bankrolled by eBay founder Omidyar

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE99E18D20131015?irpc=932

Among his ventures is Honolulu Civil Beat, a news website covering public affairs in Hawaii. Civil Beat aimed to create a new online journalism model with paid subscriptions and respectful comment threads, though it is unclear how successful it has been.

Omidyar, a French-born Iranian-American, also founded the Democracy Fund to support "social entrepreneurs working to ensure that our political system is responsive to the public," according to its website.

Omidyar's active Twitter account suggests he is very concerned about the government spying programs exposed by Greenwald and Snowden.

[msanthrope]

45. The guy who gave us Meg Whitman??? Great. nt

[Luminous Animal]

47. So a person not involved with day to day operations of the company

Hired her, eh?

[msanthrope]

49. Ahem..he's the chairman. Are you honestly going to tell us that a chairman of a company

isn't much involved in it????

Really????

[Luminous Animal]

50. The Chairman of the Board at the company I work at has not one thing

to do with any hiring decisions. Nada.

[markpkessinger]

53. The hiring and firing of a CEO is a board-level decision ...

... and I'm not a Greenwald hater, I'm just observing that as a fact in most organizations.

[Luminous Animal]

54. I didn't say that the board had nothing to do with the decisions...

but our Chairman is a courtesy position. He rarely attends meetings and leaves the board decisions to the board members. In theory, he can be called in to break a tie but that has never happened.

[msanthrope]

57. You really think the founder and chairman of Ebay had no say in the hiring of the CEO?

You really expect us to believe that???

[Luminous Animal]

59. I read that he is not involved in day to day operations which tells me something

so I am certainly not going to jump to conclusions and assume otherwise. As have you.

[msanthrope]

74. I eagetly await your posts absolving the chairman of BP, Haliburton, Enron, etc. nt

[BluegrassStateBlues]

44. If even one dollar of his new financier goes to any conservative or libertarian groups...

I dare anyone to send me a link to this "news" organization as a source.

[msanthrope]

46. Omidyar is a libertarian. I can't wait to see the free-market swill that gets produced. Remember,

this is the guy that gave us Meg Whitman.

[BluegrassStateBlues]

48. Well, fuck that then.

No one better try to peddle that shit around me.

I will never accept it as a legitimate news source.

[Luminous Animal]

52. You just swallowed that hook, line and sinker without a shred of evidence.

The vast majority of Omidyar's Federal Campaign Contributions go to Democrats.

http://www.newsmeat.com/billionaire_political_donations/Pierre_Omidyar.php

[BluegrassStateBlues]

55. His retweeting and defense of teabagger Justin Amash...

one of the culprits in holding this country hostage is enough for me to never trust anything that comes from him or any "news organization" he might create.

[Luminous Animal]

58. He is not defending Amash's stance on the government shut down..

He retweeted NSA info. As did I. I also retweeted Wyden updates as did a few libertarians I know who tweet.

There are some issues that WE can work together on. For years I, an atheist and pro-choice, worked on poverty issues with several nuns in San Francisco. We were a good team and agreed not to discuss anything that would fracture our focus and divide our coalition.

I have worked with *gasp* the California Libertarian Party on medical marijuana and marriage equality. They were incredibly well organized and worked their butts off.

Sometimes a person can put aside their purity in order to be an effective advocate for a specific issue.

[BluegrassStateBlues]

60. No one can put aside anything to support a teabagger or the libertarian party.

That's what legitimizes them and gives them the power they have now.

We won't agree on this... so this is my last reply.

[Luminous Animal]

62. Oh well, he and his wife's foundation have also supported initiatives by Obama & Clinton

I guess you'll have to reject Obama and Clinton, as well.

[Luminous Animal]

51. For a libertarian, he sure donates to a lot of Democrats

http://www.newsmeat.com/billionaire_political_donations/Pierre_Omidyar.php

[msanthrope]

56. No donations in the Presidential in 2008 or 2012. What's your point? nt

[Luminous Animal]

61. That, for a Libertarian, he sure donates to a lot of Democratic candidates.

And OMG! He is working with the Obama admin to stop human trafficking:

http://www.humanityunited.org/blog/breaking-president-barack-obama-announces-initiative-aid-survivors-human-trafficking#.Ul3-87-ff-k

And OMG! He donated 55 million to Bill Clinton's Global Intitiative

http://www.mercurynews.com/business-headlines/ci_16134042

[bananas]

71. Thanks for all the info you've posted in this thread. nt

[Luminous Animal]

72. Thanks for the thanks! And you are welcome, bananas.

[Turborama]

73. Will it be "a new online journalism model with paid subscriptions and respectful comment threads"?

Like "Civil Beat"? http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE99E18D20131015?irpc=932

[dawn frenzy adams]

64. What was the Guardian thinking about...

when they hired Greenwald?

The Guardian, whose great investigative journalist, Nick Davies, who so carefully, methodically, patiently investigated News Corp, and ultimately ended Murdoch's tyrannically hold on the British Press, hired Glenn Greenwald? What the hell were they thinking?

[Luminous Animal]

66. Why don't you ask editor in chief, Alan Rusberger

He sent the following tweet to Greenwald this evening.

@arusbridger
Sorry to be losing @ggreenwald after some thunderous reporting w @guardian. His new venture sounds +extremely+ interesting

[2banon]

70. Quite Happy to Rec and Kick this thread..

Excellent news. Thanks for posting it newsjock!