Both are forms of "whistleblowing": one within proper channels; the other, directly to the press. That's why Snowden is commonly referred to as a "whistleblowe

Both are forms of "whistleblowing": one within proper channels; the other, directly to the press. That's why Snowden is commonly referred to as a "whistleblower", without disservice to the term -- because he (prudently, in the view of many) saw it necessary and proper to bypass government channels, given the gravity of abuses he had become witness (and tacit accomplice) to. Though in Sterling's case it is clear that his prison sentence is (ostensibly) for his having done the latter, not the former.