You can add intonation through choice of words, which is important for any written work.

The problem with work emails is when you and your peers want to / are expected to remain professional, so you use a more professional tone conveyance through text with less nonsense.

For me, I read the subtext ("He uncovered and released information that the political establishment and government wanted to stay hidden", which has a linguistic slant against the political establishment) and came to the conclusion that it was sarcasm, then I looked at the name.

There are additional clues within the greater post of subtext, as the entire point is that Assange isn't a journalist because today's journalists don't uncover things the government wants to keep hidden.

You can add intonation through choice of words, which is important for any written work.

The problem with work emails is when you and your peers want to / are expected to remain professional, so you use a more professional tone conveyance through text with less nonsense.

For me, I read the subtext ("He uncovered and released information that the political establishment and government wanted to stay hidden", which has a linguistic slant against the political establishment) and came to the conclusion that it was sarcasm, then I looked at the name.