The real problem is people are polarized: these folks are either total hero's or total traitors. They're usually a mixed bag. Here's a short write-up I did on Snowden as an example showing he's both a whistleblower and a traitor simultaneously:

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2014/10/nsa_has_under...

Just depends on which leaks and motivations we're talking about.