You can read the report in its entirety -- including the various responses from the Obama administration -- here.

Downie says theres no evidence the Obama administration is tapping NSA tools like Prism in its efforts to track and prosecute leakers but that the tools are nevertheless a threat to the press role as a watchdog over government:

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The Obama Administration and the Press, penned by Leonard Downie Jr., whose career at the storied news included time spent as an editor during the Watergate era, says sources for stories involving national security are r less likely to talk to reporters now that mass spying by the NSA has come to light.

And Downie taps Harvard Law professor and former Bush administration lawyer Jack Goldsmith for some perspective. Theres no perfect solution to this problem, Goldsmith says. Too much secrecy and too much leaking are both bad. A leaker has to be prepared to subject himself to the penalties of law, but leaks can serve a really important role in helping correct government malfeasance, to encourage government to be careful about what it does in secret, and to preserve democratic processes.

Snowden had pretty much vanished since being granted temporary asylum by Russian President Valdimir Putin this summer.

Edward MoyerEdward Moyer is an associate editor at CNET News and a many-year veteran of the writing and editing world. He enjoys taking sentences apart and putting them back together. He also likes them from scratch.

Another of the group, former CIA officer turned activist Ray McGovern, said, according to The Wall Street Journal, that Snowden has made his peace with what he did. Hes convinced that what he did was right. He has no regrets and he is ready to ce whatever the future holds for him.

I think we have a real problem. Most people are deterred by those leaks prosecutions. Theyre scared to death. Theres a gray zone between classified and unclassified information, and most sources were in that gray zone. Sources are now afraid to enter that gray zone. Its having a deterrent effect. If we consider aggressive press coverage of government activities being at the core of American democracy, this tips the balance heavily in vor of government.

Snowdens ther also landed in Russia on Thursday and will presumably be secreted away to a visit with his son.

The National Security Agencys electronic surveillance programs are already having a chilling effect on free speech, at least according to a report by the former executive editor of The Washington Post.

Potential insider sources think [the government is] looking at reporters records, Priest said. Im writing fewer things in e-mail. Im even afraid to tell officials what I want to talk about because its all going into one giant computer.

In regard to leakers/whistle-blowers, The New York Times Scott Shane is quoted as saying:

Except, that is, for the occasional run to the grocery store for a shopping cart full of secrets. (Note: The Christian Science Monitor reports that Snowdens lawyer says, yes, that is indeed Snowden on a supermarket run, though probably not in Moscow.)

Those honoring Snowden were members of the Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence, a group of former national security officials, says The Washington Post.

Snowden feted in Russia

Edward Snowden receives the Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence Award in Moscow. From left to FBI whistle-blower Coleen Rowley, NSA whistle-blower Thomas Drake, Justice Department whistle-blower Jesselyn Raddack, Snowden, UK WikiLeaks activist Sarah Harrison, and former CIA official turned activist Ray McGovern.

Its not just the NSA. Downies report explores the Obama administrations attitude toward the control of information and the censuring of leakers -- the most aggressive Ive seen since the Nixon administration, he says.

Downie also quotes the Posts Dana Priest, whose 2011 book Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State looked at the huge and secretive national security apparatus assembled after the September 11,new york asian escort model 2001, terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Meanwhile, Prism leaker Edward Snowden was visited in Russia by four US whistle-blowing advocates, who gave him an award for his efforts and said he looked great and was remarkably centered.

The report also discusses the Obama administrations unprecedented use of social media and the Web. What some might characterize as an effort toward transparency and direct contact with the public is called into question as something more akin to propaganda and, as former CNN Washington Bureau Chief Frank Sesno puts it, an attempt to end run the news media completely.

In Paris this past July, demonstrators hold up posters of US President Barack Obama and NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

At this writing, no connection has been established between the NSA surveillance programs and the many leak investigations being conducted by the Obama administration -- but the surveillance has added to the fearful atmosphere surrounding American journalists and government sources.

I have no idea what [my sons] intentions are, but ever since he has been in Russia, my understanding is that he has simply been trying to remain healthy and safe and he has nothing to do with future stories, Lon Snowden was quoted as saying in The Christian Monitor.

They included Thomas Drake, a former NSA employee who leaked documents about spending and mismanagement issues at the NSA to a Baltimore Sun reporter, and was subjected to a prosecution that a federal judge later called four years of hell. (Drake figures in the above mentioned report by the Committee to Protect Journalists.)

Downie says that in its defense, the administration points, in part, to presidential directives to put more government data online, to speed up processing of Freedom of Information Act requests, and to limit the amount of government information classified as secret. The administration also cites the declassification and public release of information about NSA communications surObama NSA dissed by report as Edward Snowden reappearsveillance programs in the wake of Snowdens leak, Downie notes.

There is greater concern that their communications are being monitored -- office phones, e-mail systems, Post reporter [Rajiv] Chandrasekaran said. I have to resort to personal e-mail or ce to ce, even for things I would consider routine.

I am not sure my son will be returning to the US again. Thats his decision, he is an adult, he is a person who is responsible for his own agency. I am his ther, I love my son, and I certainly hope I will have an opportunity to see my son, the elder Snowden said.

Downie -- also an executive with the Committee to Protect Journalists, the press-freedom nonprofit that published the report Thursday -- examined the Obama administrations aggressive policies toward leakers such as Edward Snowden and spoke with 30 experienced Washington journalists about the administrations dealings with the press. The journalists included reporters from ABC, the Associated Press, CBS (parent of CNET), CNN,Social Media The New York Times, and the Post.

NSA surveillance and Obama administration policies are putting a damper on freedom of the press, says a report. Meanwhile, Prism leaker Edward Snowden accepts an award in Moscow.

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