Glenn Greenwald leaves The Guardian for 'dream journalistic opportunity' to head up his own online news site

Journalist Glenn Greenwald, who published multiple reports this year based on former security consultant Edward Snowden's files detailing the National Security Agency's (NSA) surveillance in the U.S. and abroad, will be leaving the British newspaper the Guardian for an unidentified new media outlet, Buzzfeed reported on Tuesday.

"My partnership with the Guardian has been extremely fruitful and fulfilling," Greenwald said in a statement. "I have high regard for the editors and journalists with whom I worked and am incredibly proud of what we achieved. The decision to leave was not an easy one, but I was presented with a once-in-a-career dream journalistic opportunity that no journalist could possibly decline."

The announcement comes less than a week after Greenwald told Brazilian lawmakers he would be publishing more stories regarding NSA spying in France and Spain, while accusing the U.S. of "using this surveillance system to punish the journalistic process."

Greenwald said in his statement that while he will remain based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, his new organization will have U.S. offices in San Francisco, California, New York City and Washington, D.C.

"My role, aside from reporting and writing for it, is to create the entire journalism unit from the ground up by recruiting the journalists and editors who share the same journalistic ethos and shaping the whole thing — but especially the political journalism part — in the image of the journalism I respect most," Greenwald's statement read.

[Image via YouTube]