The whistleblower effect is one of the most contentious issues facing organizational or public leadership, especially when critical information relating to the internal problems or secrets of the organizations is revealed. In particular, a lot of public and media attention is focused on whistleblowing that tends to expose the problems within major organizations or the government. While the public tends to believe in the information provided by whistleblowers, it is often difficult to determine the credibility of the information as well as the motivation of the informers. Currently, Edward Snowden’s exposure of the American intelligence agencies’ abuse of human rights has created a major debate in the US and the world in general.
Most people in the US and the world believe that Snowden, a 30 year-old American and former employee of Dell, is a hero and a credible whistleblower who sacrificed his freedom and citizenship to reveal the secrets of the government. On the other hand, it is difficult to establish the credibility of his stories. Similarly, it is difficult to establish the credibility of the government’s response to the revelations. Since Snowden’s revelations are recent, there is a scarcity of information because of the limited number of studies done to examine the credibility of his revelations, the motivating factors, and the truth of the matter. In addition, the credibility of the government’s response to Snowden’s work is not studied from an empirical perspective.
Therefore, the purpose of the proposed research is to examine the lies and secrets of the government and Snowden. It aims at describing and evaluating the importance of Edward Snowden as a whistleblower (hero) or a liar. The study will examine the stories released by Snowden as well as the media perspectives, including the personal interviews with Snowmen carried by several media stations since he left for Russia.
Annotated bibliography
Bamford, James. The most wanted man in the world. 2014. Web.
The article provides a detailed report of an interview in which the writer examined Edward Snowden in Moscow, Russia, where he has been staying since he was given asylum by the Putin-led regime. The author is an investigative journalist who has carried out a number of other similar activities since the 1980s. In this article, Bamford interviews Snowden to examine the credibility of his stories, the motivations behind the whistleblowing activity, and his plans for the future (Bamford par 9). Among other things, Bamford finds that Snowden is willing to defend his revelations and does not change the initial story. In addition, the author finds that Snowden feels proud of his actions, which shows the motivation behind the work.
Hewel, Katrina, and Cohen Stephen. Edward Snowden: A “Nation” interview. 2014. Web.
This article provides a detailed report of an interview between the two authors and Edward Snowden. Among other things, the author investigates Snowden’s life in Russia, his perceptions and beliefs about his work and the future. In addition, they wanted to know how Snowden had obtained information about the FBI and other US intelligence agencies (Hewel and Stephen par. 7). The article indicates that Snowden shows a lot of evidence that his stories are true, especially after the revelation of the relationship between the US and German intelligence agencies.
Turley, Jonathan. Edward Snowden: Whistleblower or traitor? 2014. Web.
In this article, Turley attempts to evaluate the credibility of Snowden’s revelations as well as the government’s response to the news. In particular, the author shows various instances that reveal a high degree of truth in Snowden’s work and possible falsehood displayed by the American government (Turley par. 4). It is worth noting that this article states that Snowden’s work is likely to be true.
Lander, Mark, Peter Baker, Brian Knowlton, Charlie Savage and Mark Mazzetti. “Traitor or Hero?” 2014: 8-11. Print.
This article examines the motives behind Snowden’s revelations and the credibility of his work. It shows how the US responded to Snowden’s revelations and the consequences of the whistleblowing action. It also evaluates the possible involvement of the government in information tapping. In particular, it shows the activities of the state intelligence agencies such as eavesdropping of telephone conversations by both FBI and CIA (Lander, Baker, Knowlton, Svage and Mazetti par. 6). It concludes by indicating that Snowden’s work, supported by the government’s response, is based on facts.