Michael Eisen, a professor at UC Berkeley, said he was fired as the editor of eLife, a medical and life sciences academic journal, after he praised the “moral clarity” of an article about the Israel-Hamas war published by satirical website The Onion.
“I have been informed that I am being replaced as the Editor in Chief of @eLife for retweeting a @Theonion piece that calls out indifference to the lives of Palestinian civilians,” Eisen posted on X (aka Twitter) on Monday.
On Oct. 13, less than a week after Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israeli civilians, Eisen wrote on X, “The onion speaks with more courage, insight and moral clarity than the leaders of every academic institution put together. I wish there were a @Theonion university.” He quoted the outlet’s story headlined, “Dying Gazans Criticized for Not Using Last Words to Condemn Hamas.”
After a broad backlash to the post, Eisen tried to clarify his point, writing on Oct. 14, “Every sane person on Earth is horrified and traumatized by what Hamas did and wants it to never happen again. All the more so as a Jew with Israeli family. But I am also horrified by the collective punishment already being meted out on Gazans, and the worse that is about to come.” He added, “The onion is not making light of the situation. And nor am I. These articles are using satire to make a deadly serious point about this horrific tragedy.”
In a statement Tuesday, the board of eLife, a U.K.-based nonprofit research publication, confirmed that Eisen was removed as its top editor (while it did not specifically cite his commentary about The onion article).
“Mike has been given clear feedback from the board that his approach to leadership, communication and social media has at key times been detrimental to the cohesion of the community we are trying to build and hence to eLife’s mission,” the organization said in the statement. “It is against this background that a further incidence of this behaviour has contributed to the board’s decision.”
After Eisen was dismissed, another eLife editor, Lara Urban, said she had resigned in protest because Eisen was “fired for making use of his freedom of speech to stand up – once again – for the people who were silenced.” “Mike’s dismissal for expressing his personal views sets a dangerous precedent for freedom of speech in our academic community,” Urban posted on X, adding that the incident “validates cyber-bullying as a successful and legitimate tool to get scientists with controversial opinions fired.”
The Onion, which carries the tagline “America’s Finest News Source,” was founded in 1988. It is owned by New York-based G/O Media, formed in 2019 after Univision sold Gizmodo Media Group and The onion to private-equity firm Great Hill Partners and G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller.
