Editor stops blog after paper's edict
Doug Harper, a News Desk Editor at the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal, stopped his personal blog because of a new newspaper policy, Steve Rubel reports.
Harper writes that he made his decision after the newspaper issued a memo saying, "It is especially important that editorial staffers do not express personal opinions - on their Web sites or in their blogs or chat rooms - on news subjects or issues that they cover. Such publication of personal opinion casts doubt on their impartiality, ultimately calling into question the newspaper's commitment to fairness."
Harper said "that's the end of the line for me. Since I often sit at the wire desk and make decisions about which national and international news stories get published in the next day's edition of the ------ ------, the line about 'may not contain content dealing in any way with the subject areas that the employees cover or reasonably might be expected to cover' precludes me from writing about current events in any form."
Last year CyberJournalist.net published dueling columns on columnists right to blog.
The Hartford Courant's move ordering a reporter to shut down his independent Weblog stirred up a heated debate over how much control a media organization should have over its employees' outside activities (Read all about the controversy here). In a pair of point-counterpoint essays for CyberJournalist.net, blogger and online journalism columnist J.D. Lasica argued that The Courant's decision was unfair, while University of Illinois journalism professor Eric Meyer defended The Courant's actions. Read both sides and then post your own opinions.
Sep 27, 2004 | E-MAIL | SAVE | PRINT | PERMALINK | DISCUSS(1)
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1 comments about 'Editor stops blog after paper's edict'E pluribus Unum
Posted by Texas holdem at November 16, 2004 11:04 AM
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