the newspaper business

CNN has issued a formal written policy which forbids ANY employee from participating in dialogue on the web. This includes NO

• blogging
• Facebook/MySpace
• commenting in forums/chat room
• tweets

WHAT IF I DON’T WORK DIRECTLY WITH NEWS GATHERING OR NEWS REPORTING BUT ELSEWHERE WITHIN THE SUPPORTING DEPARTMENTS OF CNN?
In discussions about this issue with your colleagues across CNN, it was felt by them that it was important to have this policy apply across the board.
WHAT ABOUT FREELANCE EMPLOYEES AND INTERNS?

Supervisors should make sure freelancers and interns read this policy now — or on their first day going forward — and commit to following it.

The catch phrase that keeps repeating is “on which CNN might report.” Very broad and probably unconstitutional, don’t you think?

If you don’t follow this policy, and you are officially a CNN employee, the loss of objectivity won’t just apply to you, but could be associated with CNN.

Did I give up my right to protest or vote when I started working for a newspaper? I hope not.
Many newspapers are actively encouraging reporters to take up blogging.  Newspapers invite reporters to express opinion in the print editions. Newspapers have long held that as long as the opinion expressed is marked clearly as that of the reporter, it is acceptable.
Life would be simpler if every employee was an Eloi to the Morlock employer.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 4th, 2008 at 2:42 pm and is filed under First Amendment, Free Speech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.