Biography
Glenn Greenwald co-founded The Intercept, left it in 2020 in a public dispute with its editors, and now publishes independently.
The Intercept
By his own account, Greenwald founded The Intercept in 2013 with Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras. The outlet’s own about page dates its founding to 2014, the year it began publishing.
His statement of what it was for is worth quoting because the argument he later had with it turns on the same sentence: “the intended core innovation of The Intercept, above all else, was to create a new media outlet where all talented, responsible journalists would enjoy the same right of editorial freedom I had always insisted upon for myself.”
The Resignation
On 29 October 2020 Greenwald published his resignation. His account of the trigger is specific and contractual: “The Intercept’s editors, in violation of my contractual right of editorial freedom, censored an article I wrote this week,” refusing to publish it unless he removed the sections critical of Joe Biden. He declined, and left.
He published the statement on Substack — the platform he was moving to — and set out the plan: independent publishing funded by reader subscriptions, continued investigative work, a podcast, and the System Update programme.
Digital Political Impact
- The most-cited instance of a journalist leaving an outlet he founded and taking the argument, and the audience, directly to subscribers
- The resignation was itself published on the destination platform, which is the mechanism: the dispute and the business model were announced in the same document
- Establishes the pattern this site tracks in several places — an institution built to guarantee editorial independence, and the founder’s departure from it over that same guarantee
What Is Not Established Here
Removed in the citation audit: his birth year; his career before The Intercept, including his reporting on the 2013 NSA disclosures; and any account of his work since 2020 beyond what his resignation statement announced. His own statement and the outlet’s about page are what this page rests on; neither covers the rest.
Sources
- 01.
Greenwald, G. (2020). My Resignation From The Intercept. His own resignation statement, published 29 October 2020 on the platform he was moving to. Source for: his co-founding of The Intercept in 2013 with Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras; his account of its founding purpose — 'the intended core innovation of The Intercept, above all else, was to create a new media outlet where all talented, responsible journalists would enjoy the same right of editorial freedom I had always insisted upon for myself'; his stated reason for leaving, that 'The Intercept's editors, in violation of my contractual right of editorial freedom, censored an article I wrote this week' when he declined to remove sections critical of Joe Biden; and his plan to publish independently on Substack, continue investigative work, develop a podcast and maintain his System Update programme, relying on reader subscriptions.
- 02.
The Intercept. About — Our Mission. The outlet's own about page, cited for its founding in 2014 (the year it began publishing, as against the 2013 founding date Greenwald gives), its status as a nonprofit relying on reader donations, and its published mission.