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WikiLeaks has called for the resignation of a Time journalist who wrote a tweet mentioning a drone strike that “takes out” Julian Assange.
Michael Grunwald, a senior national correspondent for the magazine, wrote on Saturday: “I can’t wait to write a defense of the drone strike that takes out Julian Assange.”
The tweet was picked up by WikiLeaks, the document-leaking organization founded by Assange, and condemned. Grunwald deleted the post relatively quickly, and wrote that he removed it in part because it “gives Assange supporters a nice safe persecution complex to hide in.”
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In a statement, a Time spokesperson wrote: “Michael Grunwald posted an offensive tweet from his personal Twitter account that is in no way representative of Time‘s views. He regrets having tweeted it, and he removed it from his feed.”
Grunwald’s account appeared to be inundated with messages from Assange supporters, with some pointing to his tweet as representative of the media’s attitude toward the WikiLeaks founder. The Time correspondent tweeted several times afterward noting that his remark was “dumb” and apologized:
No. It was dumb so I took it back. “@m_i_c_h_a_e_l_m: @MikeGrunwald bet you only tweeted this after speaking with your supervisors at Time”
— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) August 18, 2013
I didn’t need a boss to tell me it was dumb. I mean, @blakehounshell called me derpy! Again, I apologize. Good night, everyone.
— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) August 18, 2013
The WikiLeaks Twitter account, meanwhile, campaigned for Grunwald’s resignation:
We have written to TIME magazine to ask for Michael Grunwald’s resignation https://t.co/X8Rf3TN5MY
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 18, 2013
.@TIME must show that journalists calling for the murder of other journalists, or, indeed, anybody, is never acceptable. @TheTinaBeast
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 18, 2013
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