As I wrote recently, last Sunday the German television station ARD broadcast an interview with Edward Snowden in Moscow in which he revealed a few more details about NSA spying such as that they were also targeting big German corporations such as Siemens. I based my comments on a print report of the TV interview that appeared in the Guardian and in the comments reader Jorg was kind enough to provide a link to the actual broadcast.
I assumed that the interview would get good coverage but since I do not watch TV news I did not follow up. But Charlton Stanley says that the US government and its loyal media seem to have made a concerted effort to prevent people from seeing the interview. Stanley writes:
Last Sunday, former NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden was interviewed for the German television network ARD. The interview was big news in Germany and much of the world in both print and broadcast media. However, the interview appears to have been blocked intentionally by US government authorities. In fact, the media in the US appears to have gone to ‘radio silence’ about it. It has been posted on YouTube several times, but is taken down almost immediately. The video site Vimeo has it embedded, but as I write this, Vimeo is under a DDoS attack.
When I went back to check Jorg’s link I got the following message
Sorry, “Edward Snowden’s First Television Interview (ARD/Germany)” was deleted at 3:41:53 Fri Jan 31, 2014.
Vimeo has removed or disabled access to the following material as a result of a third-party notification by NDR claiming that this material is infringing: Edward Snowden’s First Television Interview (ARD/Germany).
This made me curious. Has anyone in the US seen any coverage of the ARD Snowden interview in the major media?
Stanley provides another link to the 30-minute interview that I give below. It is must-watch TV but I don’t know how long it will be up so see it now.
(UPDATE: So the above site seems to have also been taken down but you can see it here.)
After watching the 30-minute interview I can understand why the US government is freaking out. Snowden comes across as a thoughtful, calm, intelligent, and articulate person who chooses his words very carefully and makes the case for why what he did was right in a very compelling way. Put this guy up alone in a debate against president Obama, James Clapper, Keith Alexander, Diane Feinstein, Mike Rogers, and all the other shifty liars who try to defend the NSA and it is absolutely no contest. Even the German interviewer seemed sympathetic to Snowden.
Snowden is also careful to not reveal any new information, saying that it is up to the journalists to whom he gave the documents to make the judgment as to what is in the public interest. But he drops enough hints to lead us to expect future stories to reveal that the tapping of German chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone was just the tip of the iceberg and the phones of government officials all the way down the line were also tapped in Germany and other countries, and that Siemens is by no means the only foreign company to be spied upon. Snowden says that the US spies on anyone or any entity as long as it is in the US’s national interest as opposed to national security, contrary to what Obama and others claim.
I think the US government realizes, after watching this interview, that they absolutely cannot let Snowden make his case directly to the US public, which is why the charges against him are based on the Espionage Act. Those provisions are such that if he ever comes to the US, he will not be allowed by law to make his case as to why he did what he did. So Obama and the rest who say that he should come back and face the legal system are as usual, not telling Americans the whole truth.
This episode made me curious as to whether any major US media has made any attempt to get an interview with Snowden or whether they are too afraid of offending the US government by allowing him to make his case directly to the American people. Some have already been accused of abetting treason for publishing the stories and they may well be too scared. Meanwhile, while this is going on, John Kerry feels free to lecture other countries on what constitutes democracy and why they should not suppress dissent.
Such is the sorry state of the US government and media.
Jörg says
Hi Mano,
you are reading too much into this. The German TV station NDR just was too lame to secure international rights for distributing the video. Here is their FAQ on this matter (in German): http://www.ndr.de/ratgeber/netzwelt/snowden253.html
Hanlon’s razor applies. 😉
There is even an official version of the video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x38jkFlPeg
You might view it with your usual tips for The Daily Show and The Colbert Report:
http://freethoughtblogs.com/singham/2012/01/25/watching-the-daily-show-and-the-colbert-report-clips-in-other-countries/
wtfwhateverd00d says
via https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7165266
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7165536
http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/1wddfp/us_media_blacks_out_snowden_interview_exposing/cf1801o
Jörg says
ARD/NDR have been adequately reprimanded in the German media for their stupidity of sending the interview only after 11pm on TV. And on YouTube at first they even provided only the German translation, not the original English.
http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/tv/-a-945822.html (German, Google translate: http://goo.gl/KPUaD4)
http://heise.de/-2097811 (Google translate: http://goo.gl/rnMGph)
khms says
This does not sound to me like US government action. NDR (an ARD member) is, of course, the copyright owner for this interview, so it looks like they are protecting their copyright, presumably because they are looking to sell it to other stations.
khms says
However, how about this one?
http://www.ndr.de/ratgeber/netzwelt/snowden271.html
Jörg says
@khms
The video was made by the production company Cinecentrum, which is a daughter of marketing company Studio Hamburg, which is a daughter of NDR. To provide the legalese to get international rights might take forever. 😉
The situation was messed up from the beginning.
Jockaira says
Special Thanks to Jorg and Mano both. It is doubtful that this inteview and the information from it would have been available to the people in the US in any other way.
I guess this puts me and any others having watched this right in the NSA’s crotchhairs.
Jockaira says
Sorry about that. I’m pretty sure I meant crosshairs. Whatever was I thinking of?
Jörg says
Other comments are awaiting moderation. Mano is probably currently occupied with FtBCon2.
Glenn says
Saw it on DW broadcast TV last night in Chicago.
Glenn says
WYCCW 20.3 Sun, Feb 2
10:00 PM Snowden Exclusive: The Interview
Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden is interviewed. Topics include his revelations regarding the NSA surveillance program, industrial espionage and death threats that he’s received.
Marcus Ranum says
Meanwhile, while this is going on, John Kerry feels free to lecture other countries on what constitutes democracy and why they should not suppress dissent.
Remember when hypocrite-in-chief, Hillary Clinton, used to regularly lecture the Chinese Government about how they should stop hacking US computers and stealing US secrets? AAAaaaaah, those were the good old days!!
hyphenman says
Good morning Mano,
Here’s the bit in all of this that I can not understand: as Snowden correctly asserts, James Clapper lied to Congress, full stop. Why:
A. Does James Clapper still have a job? and
B. Why isn’t James Clapper facing charges for lying to Congress?
Do all you can to make today a good day,
Jeff Hess
Have Coffee Will Write