Only 1% of files leaked by Edward Snowden published

Guardian’s editor Alan Rusbridger revealed only 1% of files leaked by Edward Snowden have been published.

Alan Rusbridger told the Home Affairs Select Committee in UK parliament that the Guardian was not a “rogue newspaper”.

He insisted the paper’s journalists were “patriots” and patriotic about democracy and a free press.

Alan Rusbridger said senior officials in Whitehall and the US administration had told the paper “no damage” had been caused.

Last month intelligence chiefs used their appearance before a different committee to criticize the Guardian, suggesting it had endangered national security.

However, Alan Rusbridger said their accusations were “very vague and not rooted in specific stories”.

“There are different views about this,” he said.

“It’s impossible to assess because no one has given me specific evidence.”

He added: “There are countries – and they are not generally democracies – where the press are not free to write about this and where the security services do tell editors what to write.

“That’s not the country we live in, in Britain, and it’s one of the things we love about the country.”

The Guardian editor said the paper had “made very selective judgments”‘ about what to publish and had not revealed the names of any officials.

He said the files taken by Edward Snowden, a former contractor with the National Security Agency (NSA) were in four locations – with The Guardian and the Washington Post newspapers, as well as in Rio de Janeiro and Germany.

Alan Rusbridger said editors of “leading” newspapers had also decided to publish details in the NSA files.