More are calling bullshit on the Sunday Times' Snowden story

[marmar]

(ArtsTechnica) The Sunday Times dropped a bombshell this weekend, reporting that the top secret files leaked by Edward Snowden have been obtained by the Russian and Chinese governments. The story claimed Western intelligence agencies were "forced into rescue operations" to mitigate the damage, and one UK government source claimed that Snowden had "blood on his hands."

It would be a major blow to Snowden and the journalists who worked with him—if it were true. But the bold claims started falling apart shortly after it was published this weekend. The story is behind a paywall but available elsewhere. It's based entirely on anonymous British officials and contains some glaring inaccuracies.

Snowden confidante Glenn Greenwald immediately attacked it as "journalism at its worst." Greenwald is a predictable critic, to be sure, but Times reporter Tom Harper was later questioned about his story on CNN and admitted he's been unable to check out any of the far-reaching claims told to him by government sources. The reporter answered one question after another with some version of "I don't know," admitting he has no idea how any "hack" took place, how or when any foreign governments got the files, or if the files were encrypted at all. Harper simply maintained that the Snowden hacking story was the "official position of the British government."

This morning, lawyers at Times Newspapers took a step to limit Greenwald's criticism, sending a notice telling The Intercept that Greenwald's story, which included a low-res image of the Times' front page, violates their copyright. The Intercept quickly published the takedown notice, and on Twitter Greenwald made clear that his publication won't be deleting his copy of the Times' "humiliating headline."

.....(snip).....

Other critics have suggested that the story's timing is no coincidence, having come just days after a 373-page report was published in the UK critical of the nation's terrorism laws. The report's author, David Anderson, called the current system "undemocratic, unnecessary, and in the long run, intolerable."

Carl Sagan famously said "extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof." Journalism isn't exempt. The Times has published a story that's evidence-free and raises questions about the practice of using anonymous sources as the sole foundation of reporting. Greenwald has lambasted the story as "pure stenography," a critique that the story's authors have not rebutted. ............(more)

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/06/sunday-times-sends-dmca-notice-to-critics-of-snowden-hacking-story/

[AuntPatsy]

1. Revenge is a funny thing, people can become obsesses to the point they begin to

stumble blindly every which way...