CitizenFour Response

I really enjoyed watching the CitizenFour documentary about whistleblower Edward Snowden and the process of events that happened before, during, and after he leaked what the NSA is doing. One of the first things that came to mind while watching the documentary was the unique personality of Edward Snowden. He is willing to give up a high profile job with the highest security clearance, in order to let the people know what is really going on. I am not only impressed with his moral and ethical bravery, but especially in his intelligence. Even if I knew the secrets of the NSA like he did, I would not have the slightest clue on how to go about spreading the word. He needed to get the information out in very strategic manner for it to be most effective and to avoid any unpleasant interactions with the government until the info had been fully exposed. Also, when he is giving the information to the journalists, he wants to make sure that he does not include his own bias, and that the story focuses on what the NSA is doing, rather than himself and his back-story. I find his actions admirable, as well as quite ingenious. Also, I am impressed by the bravery of the journalists. It takes a lot of guts to spill the beans on something like this. These reporters seemed very outspoken about it,  and were not in the least bit apprehensive. They are no longer able to go to the United States, and there was a point where they did not know what was going to happen next to them. Both Edward and the journalists are the first leak something of this magnitude against the government, and had no road-map of what to do or how things would turn out. With that said, I think they handled it very well, and I was really amazed at the whole process.