Greenwald Attacks Time For Person Of The Year Selection: ‘A Meaningless Award From A Meaningless Magazine’

Glenn Greenwald, a reporter of The Guardian newspaper, speaks during an interview in Hong Kong Monday, June 10, 2013. Greenwald reported a 29-year-old contractor who claims to have worked at the National Security Age... Glenn Greenwald, a reporter of The Guardian newspaper, speaks during an interview in Hong Kong Monday, June 10, 2013. Greenwald reported a 29-year-old contractor who claims to have worked at the National Security Agency and the CIA allowed himself to be revealed Sunday as the source of disclosures about the U.S. government's secret surveillance programs, risking prosecution by the U.S. government. MORE LESS

By Tom Kludt

December 11, 2013 5:13 a.m.

Start your day with TPM.

Glenn Greenwald ridiculed Time on Wednesday for the magazine’s decision to name Pope Francis — and not Edward Snowden — its “person of the year” for 2013.

In an email to TPM, Greenwald, who has reported extensively on the National Security Agency’s top secret surveillance programs revealed by Snowden, said that the selection was motivated by Time’s desire to be “relevant” — if only for a moment.

“It’s a meaningless award from a meaningless magazine, designed to achieve the impossible: to make TIME relevant and interesting for a few fleeting moments,” he wrote.

Nevertheless, Greenwald indicated that the pope was a worthy choice.

“I don’t begrudge the choice of Pope Francis: some of his pronouncements are impressive with the potential to achieve real change,” Greenwald wrote, before citing others who share his view that Snowden “influenced this year’s news events” more than any other.

“But for the reasons which the New Yorker’s John Cassidy, the New York Times’ Margaret Sullivan, and the Washington Post’s Andrea Peterson all stated, Snowden is clearly, by far, the person who has most influenced this year’s news events. If it were a serious magazine with minimally brave editors, then of course Snowden would have been chosen, but I never expected him to be precisely because that’s not what TIME is.”

Shortly after the decision was announced, Greenwald fired off a pair of tweets aimed at Time. He first mockingly called Time “edgy, bold, courageous and innovative as ever” and then tweeted a link to an article from The Onion that satirized the magazine.

TIME Magazine: as edgy, bold, courageous and innovative as ever: http://t.co/L1tSbEbgeV – Edward Snowden “Runner-up” http://t.co/Hxq48AQZN9

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 11, 2013

To understand TIME Magazine, just watch this video from the Onion http://t.co/KuwV77S7nQ

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 11, 2013

Greenwald set the stakes for the “person of the year” selection earlier this week, suggesting that Time would be “naming themselves Cowards of the Decade” if Snowden did not receive the distinction.

If TIME doesn’t name Snowden Person of the Year, they’re naming themselves Cowards of the Decade http://t.co/jJyltgSVWE

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 9, 2013

This post has been updated.

Start your day with TPM.

Tom Kludt (@TomKludt) Tom Kludt is a reporter for Talking Points Memo based in New York City, covering media and national affairs. Originally from South Dakota, Tom joined TPM as an intern in late-2011 and became a staff member during the 2012 election. He can be reached at tom@talkingpointsmemo.com.

Have a tip? Send it Here!