Update

The Snowden effect: Surveillance and the news

The need to shield journalism in the post-Edward Snowden era was named the most pressing issue in the World Editors Forum Trends in Newsrooms 2014 report. More on the effect of the former National Security Administration contractor who revealed the vast scope of domestic surveillance:

The Washington Post and The Guardian received the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the widespread secret surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency.
Columbia University’s Journalism After Snowden initiative conducts surveys and hosts events on the role of journalists in the age of surveillance. Broadcasters such as Brian Williams of NBC interviewed Snowden on his motives for revealing the spying.
Following the revelation of the NSA surveillance, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued its first report on press freedom in the United States. Check out the report’s six recommendations to President Obama.
More than 70 media organizations sent a letter to Senate leadership in July 2014 urging them to vote on establishing a federal shield law. This law would protect journalists from revealing confidential information, including the identity of a source, to the federal government. Yet some national security reporters oppose it.
Do digital advances mean anything if you can be watched at all times? A leading editor says his reporters are using encryption software. In 2013, Access Now won a Knight grant to develop HowSecureAmI.org, a security risk assessment tool to provide Internet security advice to professional and citizen journalists.