Interview: How Will the Manning Verdict Affect Journalists?

Army Private Bradley Manning was acquitted of the most serious charge against him, that of aiding the enemy. That charge worried many national security journalists, who felt a guilty verdict could've affected their work.

Manning orchestrated the largest leak of classified information in U.S. history and could face up to 136 years in military prison, following his conviction on 19 charges of espionage, theft and computer fraud.

But his acquittal on the most serious charge left some journalists breathing a sigh of relief.

"I think we did avoid setting a particularly unfortunate precedent here," said Stephen Engleberg, editor in chief of ProPublica, "which is the ability of the government to bring criminal charges of a very, very serious nature against somebody who's handed over a document or a piece of classified material."

To hear Host Amy Eddings' full conversation with Stephen Engleberg, click on the audio above.