I got an email from Simon over at Bloggasm about CNN’s new policy about employees commenting on matters CNN. Apparently their new policy prohibits CNN employees from talking about issues CNN reports on – which is, last time I checked – just about everything.
MOST IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER: UNLESS GIVEN PERMISSION BY CNN MANAGEMENT, CNN EMPLOYEES ARE TO AVOID TAKING PUBLIC POSITIONS ON THE ISSUES AND PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS ON WHICH WE REPORT.
Now, my only point is that while I understand that high profile figures would generally want to abstain from comment in this realm, not all employees should be subject to the same rules. A video producer, a graphic designer, or a copy editor don’t interject their opinion into CNN’s broadcasts and are only there are tools for the broadcast. They should be able to speak freely. Very few companies should be able to prohibit public free speech amongst their employees – nobody in their right mind is going to think that someone who runs Adobe AfterEffects for CNN is going to be speaking for the entire news organization about a given issue. Just another reason CNN sucks.
I guess it makes sense that they don’t want people to go into chat rooms and say “I work for CNN, and I think that…” or comment in a Fark thread that “I work for CNN, so I find this thread funny.” But to prohibit employees from publicly identifying themselves is a little bit beyond what I’d deem to be necessary to protect CNN’s image.
For those who are interested, click the “More” link for the entire policy.
