On April 14, the Pulitzer Prize Committee - the committee that awards this country's highest journalism honor - will announce this year's Pulitzer Prize winners. This year's selection process is widely considered the toughest in nearly 40 years because it has an added complication that comes in the form of NSA leaker Edward Snowden and the mountains of information he released.
While Snowden himself is not eligible for an award, POLITICO has confirmed The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Ewen MacAskill, who published the first report on the NSA’s collection of Verizon phone record, and have since played an integral role in building upon those revelations, are under consideration. Additionally, Poitras and Barton Gellman could receive the award for their reporting on the wide-ranging surveillance program known as “PRISM” in The Washington Post.
Putting the discussion of whether Snowden is a hero or a traitor aside, are there ethical issues in awarding a Pulitzer Prize to reporters who relied on stolen documents that were potentially detrimental to U.S. national security to write what were arguably the most significant stories of the year?
On Thursday's Real News, Will Cain and S.E. Cupp debated that very issue - each coming down on opposing sides of the aisle. Check out the debate below:
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Front page image courtesy of the AP