Life after Snowden: Journalists’ new moral responsibility

[Commentary] Journalism after Snowden? Two very big questions linger on—one about whether the very technologies Edward Snowden revealed are compatible with independent, inquiring reporting; and one crucial question about journalism itself, which could be boiled down to: “What is it supposed to be, or do?”

Journalists have a moral responsibility to absorb what Edward Snowden has been telling us. But how many have? My guess is a tiny minority of news reporters have taken the time and effort to read up on what forms of communication are (relatively) safe and how to send and receive encrypted emails. How many news organizations have secure drop boxes for sources wanting safely to submit documents? How many foreign correspondents have changed their habits in terms of the phones or computer equipment they travel with? Some have. My suspicion is that most haven’t. Which leads to the second, even more profound, question raised by the Snowden coverage—the essence, independence, and purpose of journalism itself.

[Alan Rusbridger was formerly the editor in chief of The Guardian and The Observer in London]