I think that it's worthwhile to point out that there are multiple stories here. It isn't just about the NSA, and all of the aspects are news-worthy in their own right.
1) The leak that the NSA has been spying on people. If you've been following along for the past few years, the fact that they could do this isn't really news. However, the potential scope of the program certainly is. This is also the least well reported part of the story because only two organizations have the full contents of the leak and are only publishing select parts. I doubt we'll ever get a complete picture of the current NSA program, since so much of it is classified. It's hard to get corroborating evidence when you have to rely on intelligence employees leaking fragments of information. And, unfortunately, Snowden is really too low level of an informant to get a complete picture with context. His leak can give some ideas of scope and capability, but very little in terms of how the data is really collected, how often are US citizens caught up in it (mistakenly or not), and how the data is used/mined.
2) There is also the story of the leaker himself, Snowden. Who is he, what are is motivations, etc... Some of this can be found out with old-fashioned journalism, but a lot of it will be pure speculation. There will be a lot of reporting on this story simply because it's easier. Anyone can speculate about his motivations, and only a limited amount of people will actually talk to him.
3) There is also the rather more interesting (in my opinion) aspect of how the NSA and government's intelligence apparatus works. For example, how did we get to the point where a contractor can have access to the types of information that Snowden claimed to have access to. Why are there so many contractors that are extremely well paid? How much of US intelligence relies on outsourced work? etc...
4) Then there is the rather dull, but probably more important for society aspect of how much privacy do we (US citizens) want to give up in the name of security. How much oversight will we demand? This will probably be the least covered part of the story. It's hard and political, so it probably won't be covered nearly as much.
5) Finally, there are the international aspects of the NSA program. In the US, if you are a citizen or physically in the US, you are protected by the 4th amendment (with a few exceptions). However, none of the constitutional protections are granted to foreign persons or data that travels or is hosted in the US. I suspect that this will be the most covered aspect of the story internationally, but will hardly make a blip in the US.
So, my point in all of this, is to agree that Snowden is largely irrelevant to the contents of the leak, but that he, himself, is very much a part of the larger story. It's important to look at each part of the story separately, since while they are intertwined, they are largely independent stories.
1) The leak that the NSA has been spying on people. If you've been following along for the past few years, the fact that they could do this isn't really news. However, the potential scope of the program certainly is. This is also the least well reported part of the story because only two organizations have the full contents of the leak and are only publishing select parts. I doubt we'll ever get a complete picture of the current NSA program, since so much of it is classified. It's hard to get corroborating evidence when you have to rely on intelligence employees leaking fragments of information. And, unfortunately, Snowden is really too low level of an informant to get a complete picture with context. His leak can give some ideas of scope and capability, but very little in terms of how the data is really collected, how often are US citizens caught up in it (mistakenly or not), and how the data is used/mined.
2) There is also the story of the leaker himself, Snowden. Who is he, what are is motivations, etc... Some of this can be found out with old-fashioned journalism, but a lot of it will be pure speculation. There will be a lot of reporting on this story simply because it's easier. Anyone can speculate about his motivations, and only a limited amount of people will actually talk to him.
3) There is also the rather more interesting (in my opinion) aspect of how the NSA and government's intelligence apparatus works. For example, how did we get to the point where a contractor can have access to the types of information that Snowden claimed to have access to. Why are there so many contractors that are extremely well paid? How much of US intelligence relies on outsourced work? etc...
4) Then there is the rather dull, but probably more important for society aspect of how much privacy do we (US citizens) want to give up in the name of security. How much oversight will we demand? This will probably be the least covered part of the story. It's hard and political, so it probably won't be covered nearly as much.
5) Finally, there are the international aspects of the NSA program. In the US, if you are a citizen or physically in the US, you are protected by the 4th amendment (with a few exceptions). However, none of the constitutional protections are granted to foreign persons or data that travels or is hosted in the US. I suspect that this will be the most covered aspect of the story internationally, but will hardly make a blip in the US.
So, my point in all of this, is to agree that Snowden is largely irrelevant to the contents of the leak, but that he, himself, is very much a part of the larger story. It's important to look at each part of the story separately, since while they are intertwined, they are largely independent stories.