This criticism is not very coherent. Rusbridger is a journalist, not part of the 'political elite', and far from risking nothing, would surly have been mindful of previous British editors, like the BBC's Grek Dyke, who lost their job after challenging the government.
The Guardian (and its predecessor The Manchester Guardian) has a renowned history of liberal investigative journalism, and being in opposition of power (Orwell sometimes praised it - "The Manchester Guardian is the only [newspaper] that leaves me with an increased respect for its honesty." -- from Homage to Catalonia), so I struggle to understand where you gain the insight to claim Rusbridger 'would have been loath to sign off' the Snowden leaks. It is very much in keeping with the history of the paper, which also partnered with Wikileaks around the time of 'Collateral Murder' etc.
There are two false dichotomies: that only those who take risks deserve praise ("Bernstein's praise is misplaced..., and not to those who sacrificed a great deal."), and that competition alone motivates the publication of news ("if the material was released in a different way").
Clearly, in the first case praise is due to those, risk or no risk, who help to inform the public - primary evidence doesn't organise itself. The second point is demonstrably false: the Snowden material was released to a number of papers internationally, which have cooperated in releasing stories. If monopolising the information was Rusbridger's goal the publication would have been handled differently.
Cameron was answering in response to the following question
> Paul Goggins (Wythenshawe and Sale East) (Lab): Two weeks ago, the head of the Security Service warned about the extent of Islamist extremism. This week, two individuals have been charged with serious terrorist offences. What is the Prime Minister going to do in January when, as a result of his Government’s legislation, some of those whom the Home Secretary has judged to pose the greatest threat to our security are released from the provisions of their terrorism prevention and investigation measures?
> The Prime Minister: We have put in place some of the toughest controls that one can possibly have within a democratic Government, and the TPIMs are obviously one part of that. We have had repeated meetings of the extremism task force—it met again yesterday—setting out a whole series of steps that we will take to counter the extremist narrative, including by blocking online sites. Now that I have the opportunity, let me praise Facebook for yesterday reversing the decision it took about the showing of beheading videos online. We will take all these steps and many more to keep our country safe.
Because of the nature of Prime Minister's Questions, it can't be concluded that this is going to become legislation. It shouldn't be a surprise that the government wants to do, or is talking about doing this.
The Guardian (and its predecessor The Manchester Guardian) has a renowned history of liberal investigative journalism, and being in opposition of power (Orwell sometimes praised it - "The Manchester Guardian is the only [newspaper] that leaves me with an increased respect for its honesty." -- from Homage to Catalonia), so I struggle to understand where you gain the insight to claim Rusbridger 'would have been loath to sign off' the Snowden leaks. It is very much in keeping with the history of the paper, which also partnered with Wikileaks around the time of 'Collateral Murder' etc.
There are two false dichotomies: that only those who take risks deserve praise ("Bernstein's praise is misplaced..., and not to those who sacrificed a great deal."), and that competition alone motivates the publication of news ("if the material was released in a different way").
Clearly, in the first case praise is due to those, risk or no risk, who help to inform the public - primary evidence doesn't organise itself. The second point is demonstrably false: the Snowden material was released to a number of papers internationally, which have cooperated in releasing stories. If monopolising the information was Rusbridger's goal the publication would have been handled differently.