Who is a journalist? The New Republic tickles but does not tackle the question
“Glenn Greenwald Is Greenwald, and That’s Enough,” was the headline of Marc Tracy’s column on the New Republic website June 25. It should have given readers a clue to stop right there. Tracy suggests that the ongoing story of Edward Snowden’s leaks of NSA surveillance to the Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald, formerly a First Amendment lawyer and blogger, have ignited a debate about “What is a journalist – and who is one?” Trying to figure out why such a debate is “raging” in Tracy’s column reduces you to feel like the blind pig that finds a truffle now and then.