ENEMY OF THE STATE PART THREE: ANOTHER DIVISION

There is division between countries on the matter of free speech and its ties to national security. There is division between American citizens regarding Edward Snowden and his ties to national security. This division on matters of national security also extend to the fourth estate, or the world of journalism. This division has come to light recently with the release of Glenn Greenwald’s book No Place to Hide in which he details the Snowden ordeal as well as condemns the unjust methods of the NSA, as journalists take opposing sides – some acclaiming Greenwald and his book, others tearing not only the book but Greenwald apart, still others in the middle. One journalist who acclaimed Greenwald’s book while she also holds many views similar to those of Greenwald is Emily Bazelon of the Slate Book Review. In her article “Why Are You So Fearful, O Ye of Little Faith?”, she gave a summary of the highlights of the book followed by her concurrence with Greenwald’s view as well as concluding remarks in praise and in defense of Greenwald against his many critics. This is evident when Bazelon says, “Surely skeptics will argue that Greenwald is too close to his source to be trusted, but I don’t think so. I think he is vouching for Snowden because he vetted him and he knows him. Last summer the journalist and the whistleblower took a huge and risky plunge together, along with Poitras and Gellman. Now Greenwald is coming up for air and, with this incisive, slashing book, reaping the benefits of being adventuresome, dogged—and, as far as the evidence shows, right.” On the other hand, a journalist who certainly does not side with either Greenwald nor Bazelon based on his review of No Place to Hide is David Cole of the Washington Post. In his article “‘No Place to Hide’ by Glenn Greenwald, on the NSA’s sweeping efforts to ‘Know it All’”, Cole summarizes Greenwald’s negative claims about the NSA’s activities and proceeds to critique what he considered to be the many flaws of Greenwald’s book. For instance, Cole claims many of Greenwald’s analyses of the NSA to be either misleading or overly exaggerated. Cole expresses his criticism of Greenwald’s mistake of making too many hyperbolic statements, saying, “Such overstatement weakens Greenwald’s credibility, which is unfortunate, because much of what he has to say is extremely valuable.” He elaborates upon this major error of Greenwald’s book as he says, “Part of the problem is that Greenwald sees the world in black and white. As he puts it, ‘There are, broadly speaking, two choices: obedience to institutional authority or radical dissent from it.’ For him there is apparently nothing in between. Anyone who does not share his radical dissent is, therefore, a tool for the political elite.” Though Cole does appreciate Greenwald’s creation of a book on such an important topic, he disapproves of his tendency to overstate. An additional journalist that seems to be in the middle – as he appreciates some aspects of the book and criticizes other parts – is Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times. In his article entitled “Snowden’s Story, Behind the Scenes”, after summarizing Greenwald’s account of the Snowden ordeal, he makes claims both praising Greenwald’s book and disapproving of it. For example, he commends Greenwald for his strong arguments in favor of the right of privacy as he says, “When Mr. Greenwald turns his fervor to the issue of surveillance and its implications for ordinary citizens’ civil liberties, he is far more credible. Sometimes eloquent…And he delivers a fierce argument in defense of the right of privacy.” However, Kakutani also manages to slip in some objection to Greenwald’s downfall in his extreme overgeneralizations and exaggerations (the same critique David Cole made) when he claims, “many of Mr. Greenwald’s gross generalizations about the establishment media do a terrible disservice to the many tenacious investigative reporters who have broken important stories on some of the very subjects like the war on terror and executive power that Mr. Greenwald feels so strongly about.” Made evident by merely three of a multitude of reviews of No Place to Hide, there is a large variance of opinions on Edward Snowden and national security amongst journalists, causing further division within the United States.