> he point of sharing it only with trusted established journalists was that their qualified to know what needs redacting

Really? I assumed it had more to do with Constitutional protections for journalists, so whatever they did publish would stay published.

IIRC, the US had already called Assange's journo creds into question by then, so Snowden sought out established outlets.

There is no special credential that makes one a journalist in the eyes of the United States Constitution, nor does the first amendment grant any special protections to journalists that do not otherwise apply to the general population.