[imh]

Journalists love to argue that journalists should enjoy special first amendment rights, and a central theme of OP is the government prosecuting whistleblowers but not the media companies who publish the info. Even the most Snowden friendly outlets seem to write like that. That seems super weird. The exceptions should be due to public interest, not due to being a newspaper.

[jumelles]

In the US, whistleblowers like Snowden are able to be prosecuted because they agreed to not disclose confidential information. The speech itself is protected.