Glenn Greenwald leaves ‘Guardian’ for new Omidyar media venture

Glenn Greenwald, who has made headlines around the world with his reporting on United States electronic surveillance programmes, is leaving the Guardian newspaper to join a new media venture funded by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, according to people familiar with the matter.

Greenwald, who is based in Brazil and was among the first to report information provided by one-time US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden, wrote in a blog post that he was presented with a "once-in-a-career dream journalistic opportunity" he could not pass up.

He did not reveal any specifics of the new media venture but said details would be announced soon.

Two sources familiar with the new venture said the financial backer was Omidyar. It was not immediately clear if he was the only backer or if there were other partners.

Omidyar, who is chairman of the board at eBay Inc but is not involved in day-to-day operations at the company, has numerous philanthropic, business and political interests.

Among his ventures is Honolulu Civil Beat, a news website covering public affairs in Hawaii. Civil Beat aimed to create a new online journalism model with paid subscriptions.

Omidyar, a French-born Iranian-American, founded the Democracy Fund to support “social entrepreneurs working to ensure that our political system is responsive to the public,” according to its website.

Omidyar’s Twitter account suggests he is concerned about the government spying programmes exposed by Greenwald and Snowden. – (Reuters)