The story has now spanned six days in the news, often as a front page story. New revelations have occurred across that timespan as well, which kept the story al

The story has now spanned six days in the news, often as a front page story. New revelations have occurred across that timespan as well, which kept the story alive. And then the leaker revealed himself, giving the story a human face, which the media loves. Furthermore, the President and Director of National Intelligence have come out and openly admitted to mass dragnet surveillance, while trying to make it seem like not a big deal and simultaneously trying to suggest it's tremendously useful and doesn't do very much. Couple that with some ridiculous statements about a goal of 100% security and people got pretty pissed off by his statement. It has the mark of someone trying to make an embarrassing discovery go away.