Sometimes in life you gotta do what’s right despite the                   consequences that follow. These were constant themes that were focused more upon the documentary Citizenfour as welll as the article The Holderof Secrets. Throughout history our society has constantly tackled and fought for ournatural rights as citizens. One of these rights in particular is the Freedom of the Press. Guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, to gather, publish, and distribute information and ideas without government restriction; this right encompasses freedom from prior restraints on publication and freedom from Censorship.

      Reasons can be justified that these surveillance programs were set up after the 9/11 attack. Initially the primary purpose was to look for potential  terrorists in their searches, in order to protect the security of America. However according to the article, The Holder of Secrets, it seems that the National Security Agency is using this intelligence collection “for political, rather than legal” reasons.

        Being the “whistleblower” in the news industry can have various results. Whether for better or worse there are always consequences. The battle never ends for journalists, state power verus the people’s power.  News organizations had a duty to publish the classified documents that Edward Snowden provided . Everyone has a right to the truth despitehow painful it might be to hear.If citizens were truly aware of their monitoring by the National Security Agency  it would have possibly held back our intellectual ability to learn and discover. Our society would be afraid to use the internet as a means of learning and enhancing their knowledge through the internet if it meant their use of the internet could possibly be checked by the National Security Agency.