Alex Fitzpatrick

Quick post, I’ll elaborate later, but I’m in my first week at The Denver Post, and yesterday I was sent out to shoot the first-ever evacuations within city limits of Colorado Springs.

The Hubbard Family was nice enough to allow me into their home as they evacuated from a voluntary evacuation…

Absolutely chilling.

10 Jun

guardian:

Edward Snowden: ‘I do not expect to see home again’ The whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations speaks out.

The Guardian’s print cover for Monday.

7 Jun

This Is the NSA's Legal Basis for Tapping Into Facebook and Google

The NSA’s legal basis for the PRISM surveillance program is rooted in a section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

My in-depth explanation of DNI Clapper’s legal rationale for the NSA’s PRISM Internet surveillance program.

15 May

Strongbox was perhaps the last contribution of the late Aaron Swartz, who was commisisoned to work on the project by Wired News Editor Kevin Poulson nearly two years ago (New Yorker and Wired are both Condé Nast publications). Swartz, a programmer and freedom of information advocate, took his own life in January while facing charges under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). Swartz’s Strongbox code, writes Poulsen, was stable just a month before his death.

— “New Yorker Launches ‘Strongbox’ for Anonymous Transmission of Files,” Mashable

29 Apr

We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks

Enjoyed a press screening of the film this evening. While it does a fine job of summing up the WikiLeaks, Assange and Manning stories up to this point, none of those tales have an ending yet.

The film takes a hard pro-Manning and anti-Assange turn at the end. While it’s probably okay to judge specific events on the timelines: Manning’s imprisonment, Assange’s handling of the Sweden allegations, it’s not yet fair to judge the stories as a whole because they’re just not whole yet.

I also didn’t feel great about a 130-minute documentary film that ended up criticizing the focal character without giving him a chance to speak for himself, though it seems Assange was reluctant to be interviewed without being paid.

All said, an alright film that isn’t destined to be the ultimate WikiLeaks documentary. That, my friends, is waiting in the wings.

26 Apr

Danny described 90 harrowing minutes, first with the younger brother following in a second car, then with both brothers in the Mercedes, where they openly discussed driving to New York, though Danny could not make out if they were planning another attack. Throughout the ordeal, he did as they asked while silently analyzing every threatened command, every overheard snatch of dialogue for clues about where and when they might kill him.

— “Carjack victim recounts his harrowing night,” Boston.com. Absolutely top-notch, must read stuff. Stay through the end, it’s worth it.

25 Apr

The cover of an upcoming issue of Boston Magazine, showing a heart made from sneakers worn by runners in the Boston Marathon. Nice.

24 Apr

Criticizing all of Reddit for the work of a few misguided users in one subreddit is like criticizing Facebook for your distant cousin’s constant Obama birther posts: absolutely ridiculous on its face.

— “Don’t Blame All of Reddit for Boston Bombing Witch Hunt,” Mashable. New op-ed from me.