Edward Snowden Joins Board of Free Press Organization

Today, as a
Senate panel debates National Security Administration metadata
bulk collection reforms – a public debate that would never have
happened without Edward Snowden leaking valuable information to the
media and ultimately the public – The Freedom of the Press
Association announced the whistleblower at the center of the
controversy has
joined their board of directors.

From the New York Times:

Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency
contractor whose leaks of secret documents set off a national and
global debate about government spying, is joining the board of a
nonprofit organization co-founded by Daniel Ellsberg, the
well-known leaker of the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam
War.

The announcement by the group, the Freedom of the Press
Foundation, is the latest contribution to a public relations tug of
war between Mr. Snowden’s critics, who portray him as a criminal
and a traitor, and his supporters, who say he is a whistle-blower
and source for the news media in the tradition of Mr. Ellsberg.

The foundation’s board already includes two of the journalists
Mr. Snowden gave N.S.A. documents to, Glenn Greenwald and Laura
Poitras. But the organization — which consulted with lawyers about
whether adding Mr. Snowden to its board could jeopardize its
nonprofit tax status — is trying to emphasize parallels between Mr.
Snowden and Mr. Ellsberg.

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