After all the personalised attacks, the questioning of their standards, and direct threats from the British security services, theGuardian US rightly wins a Pulitzer prize
I won't rehearse why this is good for journalism and transparency. More here in my New Republic piece from last summer.
Famed for its feral tabloid press, Britain’s Fleet Street often seems grimy and sleaze-obsessed compared to its U.S. counterparts who—from across the Atlantic—still seem to glow with the kudos of Watergate-era investigative journalism and Pentagon Paper–style whistleblowing. But Brooke, who cut her teeth as a crime reporter in the U.S., thinks the American press has since become a victim of “regulatory capture.” “Whistleblowers are vanishingly rare, and every newspaper needs government briefings and insider information just to survive,” she says. But since the Beltway is not the preoccupation of a U.K.-based news service, the Guardian could afford not to play ball.
And I definitely won't use this as a stick to beat pro/anti Obama administration supporters.
I've said my piece on this. Some issues are bigger than the Rox/Sux wars: and credit to the White House for (slowly) responding to the revelations.
Guardian US Editor has some great links on the work that went into their ground breaking expose.