NEW YORK, April 07. /ITAR-TASS/. Former NSA (National Security Agency) contractor Edward Snowden and documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras have received the Ridenour Prize for truth-telling and disclosing information about the activity of the NSA, the official website of the award says.

“We have selected Edward Snowden and Laura Poitras for their efforts to expose the NSA's illegal and unconstitutional bulk collection of the communications of millions of people living in the United States,” says the statement on the website.

The Redenour Prize was established by the Nation Institute and the Fertel Foundation in 2004. The prize is awarded annually. There are three categories – Prize for Truth-Telling, Courage Prize and Book Prize. The Ridenour Prize was established in honor of US veteran and journalist Ronald Ridenour, who wrote a letter to the Pentagon and US Congress, asking for investigation of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam. In 1968, hundreds of unarmed civilians were killed by US Army soldiers in the Son My village in South Vietnam.