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Greenwald, Poitras Return to the US to Accept Prestigious Polk Award
In acceptance speech, Greenwald says awards such as George Polk Award 'vindicate' whistleblower Snowden
Apr 13, 2014
Journalists Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras returned to the United States on Friday for the first time since they exposed the United States government's vast surveillance using documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Along with Guardian reporter Ewan MacAskill, the team flew to New York to accept the prestigious George Polk Award for national security reporting Friday evening.
Ahead of their arrival, reports speculated that the journalists were under threat of being stopped by U.S. officials.
During his acceptance speech, Greenwald discussed the intimidation that both whistleblowers and journalists face.
"The only way to deal with those kind of threats," he said, referring to actions such as the airport detention of his partner David Miranda or the destruction of the Guardian's computers, "is to just do the reporting, as aggressively, if not more so, then you would absent those threats."
Discussing the many awards and accolades that both Snowden and the reporters received, Greenwald said that each one "provides further vindication that what [Snowden] did coming forward was absolutely the right thing to do and merits gratitude and not indictments and decades of prison."
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Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
Journalists Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras returned to the United States on Friday for the first time since they exposed the United States government's vast surveillance using documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Along with Guardian reporter Ewan MacAskill, the team flew to New York to accept the prestigious George Polk Award for national security reporting Friday evening.
Ahead of their arrival, reports speculated that the journalists were under threat of being stopped by U.S. officials.
During his acceptance speech, Greenwald discussed the intimidation that both whistleblowers and journalists face.
"The only way to deal with those kind of threats," he said, referring to actions such as the airport detention of his partner David Miranda or the destruction of the Guardian's computers, "is to just do the reporting, as aggressively, if not more so, then you would absent those threats."
Discussing the many awards and accolades that both Snowden and the reporters received, Greenwald said that each one "provides further vindication that what [Snowden] did coming forward was absolutely the right thing to do and merits gratitude and not indictments and decades of prison."
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
Journalists Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras returned to the United States on Friday for the first time since they exposed the United States government's vast surveillance using documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Along with Guardian reporter Ewan MacAskill, the team flew to New York to accept the prestigious George Polk Award for national security reporting Friday evening.
Ahead of their arrival, reports speculated that the journalists were under threat of being stopped by U.S. officials.
During his acceptance speech, Greenwald discussed the intimidation that both whistleblowers and journalists face.
"The only way to deal with those kind of threats," he said, referring to actions such as the airport detention of his partner David Miranda or the destruction of the Guardian's computers, "is to just do the reporting, as aggressively, if not more so, then you would absent those threats."
Discussing the many awards and accolades that both Snowden and the reporters received, Greenwald said that each one "provides further vindication that what [Snowden] did coming forward was absolutely the right thing to do and merits gratitude and not indictments and decades of prison."
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