Former New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller engages Glenn Greenwald, who broke the story of National Security Agency spying on Americans, in a dialogue about the proper role of news media. Are traditional media like the Times too solicitous of government? Or are journalists like Greenwald -- who will be at the center of Pierre Amidyar's new $250-million digital-first news venture -- too activist?
"Dear Glenn, We come at journalism from different traditions. I’ve spent a life working at newspapers that put a premium on aggressive but impartial reporting, that expect reporters and editors to keep their opinions to themselves unless they relocate (as I have done) to the pages clearly identified as the home of opinion. You come from a more activist tradition — first as a lawyer, then as a blogger and columnist, and soon as part of a new, independent journalistic venture financed by the eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. Your writing proceeds from a clearly stated point of view.
In a post on Reuters this summer, media critic Jack Shafer celebrated the tradition of partisan journalism — “From Tom Paine to Glenn Greenwald” — and contrasted it with what he called “the corporatist ideal.” He didn’t explain the phrase, but I don’t think he meant it in a nice way. Henry Farrell, who blogs for The Washington Post, wrote more recently that publications like The New York Times and The Guardian “have political relationships with governments, which make them nervous about publishing (and hence validating) certain kinds of information,” and he suggested that your new project with Omidyar would represent a welcome escape from such relationships. "
Bill Keller writes on the Op-Ed page of the New York Times October 28, 2013, with responses from Glenn Greenwald.
