12 ms·

Off topic kind of: It's a shame that the headlines immediately after Snowden's initial press release turned from, "The government is spying on you" to "Snowden

by film42 13y ago

Off topic kind of: It's a shame that the headlines immediately after Snowden's initial press release turned from, "The government is spying on you" to "Snowden is evading!" By this I mean, It was unfortunate to see Snowden's punch dissipate with headlines that focussed on his safety and whereabouts, instead of keeping focus on the crimes committed by the US government. Did anyone else notice that?

rosser 13y ago
That's just basic diversionary and disinfo tactics. Make the story about anything but what it's actually about, because what it's actually about is damaging. Snowden just happened to be convenient, and, for lack of a better word, "exploitable" to that end, having hopped off to Hong Kong and then Russia like that.
- rhizome 13y ago
  It's more specific than that: make the story about the person rather than the information. Change the focus, change the framing, change the questions asked by reporters. This is a mechanism employed by powerful entities over and over throughout history, especially in the Information Age.
robbiep 13y ago
The news headlines that do as you describe seem to be solely a US phenomenon.. Much of the rest of the world continues to be outraged by the leaked information
codex 13y ago
It doesn't help that Snowden divulged all the classified information he could get his hands on, even that unrelated to domestic spying. It comes across as a desire for fame rather than a principled action.
- Theodores 13y ago
  Compare and contrast Assange and Snowden. Assange was into monetizing leaks and being in control of what was leaked, to whom and when. Snowden went out of his way to not be 'in charge' of what was leaked, to whom and to when. He put trust in Greenwald and co. to do that. Snowden has not been paid, there is no ban on Paypal et al. accepting funds for him because, unlike Assange, he is not soliciting funds. He found himself employment in Russia to pay his way in the world. Clearly Snowden's work was wasted on you, just hope you have nothing to hide!
yodsanklai 13y ago
I did, when talking with my american friends. Most of them are saying that Snowden is not a "whistleblower" because he fled the country to Russia. And after all, government spying has always been there, and everybody does it, and it serves the US best interest and so on... And this comes from people that are educated and usually critical on governments. I find it worrying. I don't follow closely what happens in the US, but my overall feeling is that on many important issues, there is very little opposition or at least questioning to what the US government is doing. People seem more concerned with taxes and immigration reform. It also struck me during the presidential debates. Both candidates pretty much agreed that the "bad guys" should be caught, but it didn't really go much deeper than that! It seems voters have basically not the slightest control on what their leaders are doing. Depressing...
- lawnchair_larry 13y ago
  "I did, when talking with my american friends. Most of them are saying that Snowden is not a "whistleblower" because he fled the country to Russia." Anecdotally, that view does seem to be the minority in the US. Increasingly so as time goes on and more is understood. That was a gut reaction by many conservatives initially, but I think most understand by now that him going to Russia is irrelevant, even if they do disagree with the act of disclosing. Polls seem to back this up: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/06/12/uk-usa-security-poll-idUKBRE95B15H20130612 http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/06/12/uk-usa-security-pol...
- film42 13y ago
  I feel the whole thing is extremely paradoxical that as the government is making examples out of hackers, they're rewarding their own. I'm not trying to raise the conspiracy flag or show off my tin foil hat, I just hope to see a resolution despite it all.

by film42 13y ago

rosser 13y ago

That's just basic diversionary and disinfo tactics. Make the story about anything but what it's actually about, because what it's actually about is damaging. Snowden just happened to be convenient, and, for lack of a better word, "exploitable" to that end, having hopped off to Hong Kong and then Russia like that.

rhizome 13y ago
It's more specific than that: make the story about the person rather than the information. Change the focus, change the framing, change the questions asked by reporters. This is a mechanism employed by powerful entities over and over throughout history, especially in the Information Age.

robbiep 13y ago

The news headlines that do as you describe seem to be solely a US phenomenon.. Much of the rest of the world continues to be outraged by the leaked information

codex 13y ago

It doesn't help that Snowden divulged all the classified information he could get his hands on, even that unrelated to domestic spying. It comes across as a desire for fame rather than a principled action.

Theodores 13y ago
Compare and contrast Assange and Snowden. Assange was into monetizing leaks and being in control of what was leaked, to whom and when. Snowden went out of his way to not be 'in charge' of what was leaked, to whom and to when. He put trust in Greenwald and co. to do that. Snowden has not been paid, there is no ban on Paypal et al. accepting funds for him because, unlike Assange, he is not soliciting funds. He found himself employment in Russia to pay his way in the world. Clearly Snowden's work was wasted on you, just hope you have nothing to hide!

yodsanklai 13y ago

I did, when talking with my american friends. Most of them are saying that Snowden is not a "whistleblower" because he fled the country to Russia. And after all, government spying has always been there, and everybody does it, and it serves the US best interest and so on... And this comes from people that are educated and usually critical on governments. I find it worrying. I don't follow closely what happens in the US, but my overall feeling is that on many important issues, there is very little opposition or at least questioning to what the US government is doing. People seem more concerned with taxes and immigration reform. It also struck me during the presidential debates. Both candidates pretty much agreed that the "bad guys" should be caught, but it didn't really go much deeper than that! It seems voters have basically not the slightest control on what their leaders are doing. Depressing...

lawnchair_larry 13y ago
"I did, when talking with my american friends. Most of them are saying that Snowden is not a "whistleblower" because he fled the country to Russia." Anecdotally, that view does seem to be the minority in the US. Increasingly so as time goes on and more is understood. That was a gut reaction by many conservatives initially, but I think most understand by now that him going to Russia is irrelevant, even if they do disagree with the act of disclosing. Polls seem to back this up: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/06/12/uk-usa-security-poll-idUKBRE95B15H20130612 http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/06/12/uk-usa-security-pol...
film42 13y ago
I feel the whole thing is extremely paradoxical that as the government is making examples out of hackers, they're rewarding their own. I'm not trying to raise the conspiracy flag or show off my tin foil hat, I just hope to see a resolution despite it all.