Glenn Greenwald, the journalist behind the Edward Snowden leaks, savaged the “pro-government journalists” ubiquitous throughout the American media, accusing The Washington Post and others of making journalism “neutered and impotent and obsolete.”

Greenwald spoke with Amy Goodman on the left-wing radio and TV program “Democracy Now” about the politics behind his Pulitzer Prize-winning reports on the NSA’s domestic surveillance activities.

“I don’t think there’s any secret about the fact that the journalism I advocate for and engage in is controversial among a large clatch of what I would call ‘establishment journalists,’” Greenwald said. “I’ve been a very vociferous critic of how the establishment media in the United States conducts itself and that’s created a lot of animosity, even before the Edward Snowden story.”

Greenwald noted that despite the criticism, the Pulitzer’s board reputation remains largely unsullied. But he singled out The Washington Post — who shared the same Pulitzer with Greenwald and the UK-based The Guardian — for reporting that often demonstrates a more lapdog than watchdog mentality.

“The editors at The Washington Post are very much old-style, old-media, pro-government journalists,” Greenwald accused, “the kind who have essentially made journalism in the U.S. neutered and impotent and obsolete.”

“And the reason I went to The Guardian,” he explained, ”is because they have a history in the past of deviating from this sort of very conservative, pro-government line and doing reporting that’s in the public interest.”















[h/t Mediaite]