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1. Watch the video from the NY Times website by clicking on the video below.

2. Respond to the bold questions below by double clicking on the padlet or clicking on the +

3. Make sure you explain why you chose your answer

Does leaking important information help or hurt society?

Do you think Ellsberg is a hero, traitor, or something else?

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Update: Sept. 25, 2013
This week we debut a new lesson plan format we're calling Text to Text. Read more about it here, and consider submitting your own ideas.

We'll publish two more examples this week, one in science and one in literature, and you can find all of them by clicking the tag "Text to Text."

Background: In June, Edward J. Snowden leaked classified documents to the British daily "The Guardian" that revealed secret United States government surveillance programs. Mr. Snowden has been fleeing United States authorities ever since, first taking refuge in Hong Kong, then holing up in the transit section of the Moscow international airport, and finally get a year's asylum in Russia.

Even though he may have broken American laws in leaking classified documents to the press, do you think Mr. Snowden did the right thing? Did he reveal information the public needed to know? Is he justified in fleeing the United States?
Key Question | Is Snowden a Hero, a Traitor or Something Else?
In this Text to Text feature, we pair two Times articles that capture parallel moments in history to help you answer this question: Daniel Ellsberg's surrender to the police in 1971 after leaking the Pentagon Papers, and Edward Snowden's public admission in June that he leaked classified documents about United States surveillance programs.

Activity Sheets: As students read, they might take notes using one of two graphic organizers we have created for this feature (both PDF's):

Excerpt 1: "Ellsberg Yields, Is Indicted, Says He Gave Data to Press" (PDF)
Front Page, Robert Reinhold, The New York Times, June 28, 1971

Dr. Daniel Ellsberg declared today that he had given the Pentagon study of the Vietnam War to the press. Moments later he surrendered to the United States attorney here for arraignment on charges of unauthorized possession of secret documents ,,,

Looking calm and confident and clutching his wife, Patricia, around the shoulders he told the crushing throng of newsmen that in 1969 he gave the information contained in the documents to Senator J. W. Fulbright, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"This spring, after two invasions and 9000 more Americans deaths, I can only regret that at the same time I did not release them to the newspapers," he said. "I have now done so. I took this action solely at my own initiative."

"I did this clearly at my own jeopardy and I am prepared to answer to all the consequences of these decisions. That includes the personal consequences to me and my family, whatever these may be. Would you not go to prison to help end this war?" Read entire article (PDF).

Excerpt 2: "Ex-Worker at C.I.A. Says He Leaked Data on Surveillance"
Front Page, Mark Mazzetti and Michael S. Schmidt, The New York Times, June 9, 2013

A 29-year-old former C.I.A. computer technician went public on Sunday as the source behind the daily drumbeat of disclosures about the nation's surveillance programs, saying he took the extraordinary step because "the public needs to decide whether these programs and policies are right or wrong."

During a 12-minute video interview that went online Sunday, Edward Joseph Snowden calmly answered questions about his journey from being a well-compensated government contractor with nearly unlimited access to America's intelligence secrets to being holed up in a Hong Kong hotel room, the subject of a United States investigation, with the understanding that he could spend the rest of his life in jail ...

In his interview with The Guardian, Mr. Snowden said his job had given him access to myriad secrets that the United States government guards most jealously, including the locations of Central Intelligence Agency stations overseas and the identities of undercover agents working for the United States.

But he said he had been selective in what he disclosed, releasing only what he found to be the greatest abuses of a surveillance state that he came to view as reckless and having grown beyond reasonable boundaries. He was alternately defiant and resigned, saying at one point that the C.I.A. might try to spirit him out of China, and speculating that it might even hire Asian gangs to go after him.

"If you realize that that's the world you helped create and it is going to get worse with the next generation and the next generation and extend the capabilities of this architecture of oppression, you realize that you might be willing to accept any risks and it doesn't matter what the outcome is," Mr. Snowden said. Read entire article.

Questions for Discussion and Writing

1. Why did Mr. Snowden say that he released classified documents to the press? What about Mr. Ellsberg?

2. How did each man decide to reveal himself to the public for the first time? How did they each choose to face the consequences of their decisions to leak classified documents?

3. How do you think these two men and their actions are similar? How are they different?

4. The Whistleblower Protection Act defines "whistle-blowing" as "making a disclosure evidencing illegal or improper government activities." To meet that standard, employees must "reasonably believe" they have evidence of wrongdoing. Can you make a case that Mr. Snowden is a whistle-blower? Can you make a case that he is not?

5. Is Edward Snowden a hero, a traitor or something else? Use evidence from the two articles, the video above and any other sources to support your position.

Going Further
Hold a class debate or write an argumentative essay answering the key question above about Mr. Snowden. In addition to the two Times articles featured above, you may want to consult these Opinion pieces and articles to gather evidence and formulate your arguments.
Common Core English Language Arts Anchor Standards
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.7 Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.8 Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.9 Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

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Text to Text | Edward Snowden and Daniel Ellsberg

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In this Text to Text feature, we pair Times articles that capture parallel moments in history: Daniel Ellsberg's 1971 surrender to the police after leaking the Pentagon Papers, and Edward J. Snowden's June admission that he leaked classified documents about United States surveillance programs.

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1. Watch the video and answer the questions.

2. Click on the video to start.

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Edpuzzle video lesson. Make any video your lesson. Take a video and crop it, add your voice or embed questions at any point.

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1. Read the attached document and complete the activity.
2. Click on the document to begin.

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1. Watch the video "THE PENTAGON PAPERS OVERVIEW" and answer the questions.

2. Complete "YOU BE THE JUDGE."

3. Complete "HERO, TRAITOR, OR SOMETHING ELSE?"