Newspaper Policy Persuades Editor to Abandon Personal Blog

Doug Harper, a News Desk Editor at the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal, last week wrote that he is ending his personal weblog because of new blogging guidelines that came down from the newspaper's management.

According to Harper, the Journal sent around a memo to employees that among other things says:

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 responds:

Well, 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.

It's been nice knowing you all.

As blogging becomes more popular I bet we'll see more edicts like these in newsrooms across the country.

Comments

[Johnnie Moore]

That's a frustrating development. I wonder if mainstream media's somewhat vain self-image of impartiality really stands up to scrutiny.

[Matthew Oliphant]

Right. Because, you know, it's been scientifically proven that editors have no personal opinions.

From a consumer perspective (well, a curious consumer perspective) I would like to know what personal biases help an editor interpret events to turn them into news.

The source of the reporting and editing is as important as the source of the event. Both provide context for understanding and interpreting by the consumer.

[Richard Silverstein]

God help me because my wife's an attorney, but that edict from on high reeks to high heaven of lawyerspeak or some editor who consulted w. a legal flack to cover his tush.

I'm constanatly amazed by the level of unmitigated ignorance of what blogs are, what they do and what they mean. In many realms people are capable of making nuanced distinctions between different types of personal communication. Yet this poor guy's editors couldn't get the fact that what one says in a blog is in a different category of speech than what one writes in the pages of the local newspaper.

Sure any editor who writes a blog needs to be careful about expressing wild eyed opinions about things. But to say there must be an absolute bifurcation bet. the 2 is sheer idiocy.

Once everyone & their mother starts blogging, this stupid edict will be relegated to the news desk dustbin.

[max]

"everyone & their mother starts blogging"

God help us!