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Glenn Greenwald Resigns from The Intercept, Says Publication Suppressed Bad Press on Biden
Journalist Glenn Greenwald has had enough of the left-leaning media elite’s covering for Joe Biden.
Greenwald announced his resignation from The Intercept on Thursday via Twitter. The Pulitzer Prize-winning writer helped found the investigative media outlet in 2014. However, he says the editorial culture at the publication has taken a turn for the worse over the past few weeks. The unapologetic political bias among the publication’s New York-based editors has become untenable, according to Greenwald. He also decided to walk after more than five years at the publication.
“My Resignation From The Intercept,” Greenwald titled his tweet. “The same trends of repression, censorship and ideological homogeneity plaguing the national press generally have engulfed the media outlet I co-founded, culminating in censorship of my own articles,” he wrote. The tweet also included a link to his full letter of resignation, which he posted publicly online.
The Last Straw
Photo by Gage Skidmore/Flickr
According to a blog post written by Greenwald shortly after the announcement, the final straw came when The Intercept’s editors told him to censor portions of an article criticizing Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden. “The final, precipitating cause is that The Intercept’s editors, in violation of my contractual right of editorial freedom, censored an article I wrote this week, refusing to publish it unless I remove all sections critical of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden,” said Greenwald.
The censored article was “based on recently revealed emails and witness testimony, raised critical questions about Biden’s conduct,” Greenwald said. The Intercept refused to publish the piece. Additionally, the publication also demanded Greenwald refrain from publishing the piece with another publication. This is a decision the journalist said infringed on his contractual rights.
After the editors initially told Greenwald to modify the article, he said he challenged the editors to come up with a response piece to run alongside it instead of censoring it. “As a last-ditch attempt to avoid being censored, I encouraged them to air their disagreements with me by writing their own articles that critique my perspectives and letting readers decide who is right, the way any confident and healthy media outlet would,” wrote Greenwald. “But modern media outlets do not air dissent; they quash it. So censorship of my article, rather than engagement with it, was the path these Biden-supporting editors chose.”
Greenwald Publishes Supporting Materials
My Resignation From The Intercept
The same trends of repression, censorship and ideological homogeneity plaguing the national press generally have engulfed the media outlet I co-founded, culminating in censorship of my own articles.https://t.co/dZrlYGfEBf
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 29, 2020
In addition to the blog post, Greenwald also published materials to support his claims. He included a link to his email exchanges with The Intercept that clearly demonstrated the editorial staff’s censorship push. He also published the article in question on his blog.
The Intercept’s efforts to suppress any story that would hurt Biden’s chances at the ballot box were too much for Greenwald. He says he had no other choice but to resign. “I could not sleep at night knowing that I allowed any institution to censor what I want to say and believe — least of all a media outlet I co-founded with the explicit goal of ensuring this never happens to other journalists,” he wrote.
Greenwald says he will begin publishing his reporting via his blog on Substack.com, where “where numerous other journalists … have come in order to practice journalism free of the increasingly repressive climate that is engulfing national mainstream media outlets across the country.”
Greenwald On Media Bias
The Intercept co-founder Glenn Greenwald resigns from the outlet https://t.co/HQFwe1eBc3 @JustTheNews#PrideFamily @PrideNews1
Greenwald said the final straw contributing to his decision to depart from the news organization was the censorship of a piece he authored this week.
— Lisa (@Fight4_America) October 30, 2020
The critically-acclaimed journalist also penned a stunning rebuke of the increasingly prevalent mainstream media bias permeating from the left. ”The pathologies, illiberalism, and repressive mentality that led to the bizarre spectacle of my being censored by my own media outlet are ones that are by no means unique to The Intercept,” wrote Greenwald.
“These are the viruses that have contaminated virtually every mainstream center-left political organization, academic institution, and newsroom. I began writing about politics fifteen years ago with the goal of combatting media propaganda and repression, and — regardless of the risks involved — simply cannot accept any situation, no matter how secure or lucrative, that forces me to submit my journalism and right of free expression to its suffocating constraints and dogmatic dictates.”
Media Forgets Duty
Greenwald is the latest in a long string of resignations from prominent journalists citing similar concerns. Clearly, the political polarization gripping the U.S. doesn’t end at the front door of the newsroom. Many media outlets seem to have forgotten their democratic duty. They have a duty to provide the American people with the unadulterated information they need to make informed decisions independently. Instead, the New Press wants to drive viewers, and the country, further and further to the left.
Like an overbearing stepfather you never wanted, these media and Silicon Valley elites believe they know what is best for you and the country. With that, they’ll bury anyone who gets in their way. Greenwald is the establishment’s most recent victim, but you can bet your bottom dollar he won’t be the last.
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