Julian Assange Nominated as 2010 TIME Magazine Person of the Year

by Jordan Yerman | December 1, 2010 at 09:35 am

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Julian Assange Nominated as TIME Magazine Person of the Year 2010

TIME Magazine has put forth Julian Assange as a candidate for 2010 Person of the Year. It's true that Wikileaks changed how journalism is conducted during the past few years, and that Julian Assange is the spokesman for Wikileaks.

So far, Julian Assange is ranked third in total votes, trailing behind Lady Gaga and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan. Assange has quite a lead on Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, though, at least so far. Internet voting on TIME Magazine Person of the Year is like that plastic steering wheel in the shopping cart: we don't really make the decision; we just get to pretend that we do.

It is worth pointing out, though, that Julian Assange and Wikileaks are not one and the same. He is one of nine on Wikileaks' board of directors, and the organization would be capable of functioning without him.

"For better or for worse, Julian Assange has changed the accessibility to knowledge of the two wars that involve the U.S., within a matter of months," said Lauren Zalaznick, president of NBC Universal Women and Lifestyle Entertainment Networks. "He has also put journalistic integrity on a knife-blade edge: What is the responsibility of the journalist to make public or keep private?"

Full List of TIME Magazine Person of the Year Candidates: