Most if not all western media outlets have become little more than propaganda machines. There was a piece written about it recently by a Pentagon reporter, who basically tried to couch the fact that they hero-worship government and especially military officials in pseudo-intellectual excuses.
I'll try to find the link for you.
edit: Not the one I was thinking of but still à propos: http://www.alternet.org/glenn-greenwald-why-do-mainstream-jo...
Why would he compromise his own independence or why would the NSA compromise it? Himself: I believe you have your answer in your first line. NSA: they're running out of (credible) journalists who believe them (even NYT said recently they've stopped taking what the NSA says for granted), so they're desperate and acting sloppy because of it.
Full disclosure: I once worked in the office of the director of National Intelligence, where I saw firsthand how secretly the NSA operates.
Because as long as you tell us up front about your huge conflict of interest, it's totally fine that you have one, right?
I can understand if the NSA required questions to be pre-screened, and even that Alexander was allowed to ask "for 'time outs' before he answers certain questions." But why so openly compromise the independence of the interviewer?