Why Twitter’s mix of personal and professional can be an uncomfortable blend for news outlets
‘Tweet in haste, repent at leisure’ could serve as a useful adage for Twitter-happy journalists. After posting a controversial tweet about Julian Assange over the weekend, journalist Michael Grunwald attracted widespread criticism. Condemnation flooded in from around the globe, but didn’t only focus on Grunwald himself. TIME magazine, Grunwald’s employer, was also drawn into the debate. The publication sprang into action, distancing itself from Grunwald’s tweets. In doing so the magazine demonstrated that even when transmitted in an apparently personal setting, journalists’ tweets aren’t always their own.