AP fires writer after Republican college group unearths her anti-Israel political activities

The Associated Press faced bitter outrage from the left after the news agency fired a writer over anti-Israel political activities unearthed and publicized by a Republican college group.

Emily Wilder was a member of Students for Justice in Palestine at Stanford University and joined efforts to host a cartoonist who has been accused of employing offensive anti-Semitic tropes.

The Stanford College Republicans discovered the tweet where Wilder said she was hired by AP in April and led a campaign against her. Although many in the journalism world defended Wilder, by Thursday she was fired from her job.

Some in the mainstream media expressed outrage at the firing. Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post said the AP should have guided Wilder instead of caving to the "Twitter mob."

"Amazing how quickly a talented young reporter's career can be snuffed out by a Twitter mob that decided to feign outrage over some college tweets," he tweeted.

The AP says in its social media policy that employees should avoid "any postings that express political views."

The policy statement adds that AP staffers need to "be aware that opinions they express may damage the AP's reputation as an unbiased source of news. AP employees must refrain from declaring their views on contentious public issues in any public forum and must not take part in organized action in support of causes or movements."

The firing of Wilder comes at a time when the AP is facing questions about its presence in a building in the Gaza Strip where Hamas militants were also housed. That building was later targeted by an Israeli airstrike during its deadly conflict with Hamas.

"We are not surprised that Emily Wilder, a livid Anti-Israel Activist and Students for Justice in Palestine Leader at Stanford, has just been hired by the Associated Press as a new correspondent, especially in light of recent revelations regarding the Associated Press' ties to Hamas," said a spokesman for the Stanford College Republicans to The Federalist.

Here's more about the airstrike on the Hamas and AP offices:

Israeli official defends strike on media buildingwww.youtube.com