NSA leaker Edward Snowden ‘s selfie with Glenn Greenwald, taken in Moscow, has been shared on social media as the pair apparently have connected following the former security contractor’s flight abroad.
The Snowden selfie seems to indicate that the NSA’s least favorite former security contractor and The Guardian ‘s most embattled investigative journalist are chilling, quite happily — though the circumstances under which they met are not clear from the image or corresponding comments.
But first, let Snowden take a selfie:
#Snowden takes a selfie in Moscow with @ggreenwald , David Miranda and Laura Poitras https://t.co/bA92i3ZcFl pic.twitter.com/1qSOSpRFaI
— The Intercept (@the_intercept) May 22, 2014
Pictured above are Snowden, Greenwald, the journalist’s partner David Miranda, and Laura Poitras.
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As Snowden sought asylum following the massive NSA leak and ensuing government spying controversy, Greenwald was fighting retaliatory measures of his own.
Miranda, who is involved with him, was detained and held at length in England in an act Greenwald said at the time was punitive in nature. He later wrote about his anger over the detention of Miranda for The Guardian .
Not long after, Greenwald left his post with the British paper to start up The Intercept , a more activism motivated outlet with the following Twitter tagline: “Fearless, adversarial journalism.”
Sounds about right.
The Snowden selfie was not all Greenwald has been up to over the past few days, and the media establishment’s largest irritant soon took to drawing attention to a New York Times piece that argued against press freedom (and heavily against Greenwald) in an age of rampant government privacy breaches.
Over on Twitter, Greenwald both tweeted and re-tweeted about the article following the Snowden selfie. The point made by the other writer — which directly contradict’s Greenwald’s stance that news media should keep the government in check and not the other way around — was a target of his ire:
Michael Kinsely, sniveling apologist for the MSM, thinks maybe @ggreenwald should be locked up http://t.co/phYsp3hZSP pic.twitter.com/JODklHb4IQ
— Dan Froomkin (@froomkin) May 22, 2014
Are there other western countries where people who are called “journalists” think journalism should be a crime? https://t.co/Njsucy5Ed6
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 22, 2014
Shameful—Michael Kinsley’s review of @ggreenwald ‘s new book all but endorses prior restraint. http://t.co/N9qELjqOgb pic.twitter.com/wzwLj4HRVV
— Reed F. Richardson (@reedfrich) May 22, 2014
Michael Kinsley Comes Out Against Journalism http://t.co/nl6SkOXVNy
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 22, 2014
Does Michael Kinsley think NYT’s Neil Sheehan—who “aided & abetted” the Pentagon Papers stories—should be jailed too? http://t.co/kpusmKU2Vo
— Daniel Ellsberg (@DanielEllsberg) May 23, 2014
Greenwald added this morning:
What’s most telling isn’t that Michael Kinsley thinks journalism is a crime, but rather how many journalists cheered that review saying so
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 23, 2014
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Along with the Snowden selfie, Greenwald also tweeted a link to the above image, posted to David Miranda’s Facebook page.
