It’s clear we need some guidelines for journalists who blog. Each of us dreads the day we get dragged into the boss’s office and given the choice between our jobs and our blogs. It hasn’t happened to me yet, but in the interest of it not happening at all, I promise the following.
1. I will not blog on company time.
2. I will blog about my job only when it provides instructive or amusing anecdotes, like when something cool or hilarious happens. However:
3. I will not expose my employer or co-workers to ridicule or humiliation.
4. If my employer is the subject of a public controversy, I’ll blog on the issue only if I can shed more light on the situation, but I will not take sides. I will not become a company spokesman, nor will I become a company critic or a source of news about the controversy.
5. I will not scoop my employer. (amended: orginally said: “If I post a scoop I will report it as soon as possible to any co-worker who needs to know it.”)
6. I will stay on topic.
This is a first draft. If you have more suggestions, please add them by clicking on “comments.”
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