The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

Good post. I added the USA Today link for you.

Um, should journalists blog?

...and by journalists I mean the supposedly "objective" types who work in "old media" by day. Should these allegedly objective professionals be allowed to express their opinions freely in a published environment outside of the workplace?

I think the answer is pretty simple in both cases. Anyone can blog if they want to. They just have to be prepared to suffer the consequences of their decision. If you badmouth your employer in a public way, you should expect your employer to take action against you. If I'm a reporter covering the capitol beat, I probably shouldn't write political screeds reflecting my personal stance on the issues -- it compromises my professional integrity and that of my employer.

Yeah, everyone has opinions and we all should have a right to express them. But we also need to exercise some common sense in determining where and how to express them. A reporter, for example, might need to limit their political expression to the privacy of the voting booth. That's just something that comes with the job.

If you want to vent about work, write it up in a private journal. Chances are no one else really wants to read your bitching anyway. ;-)

Blogging doesn't have to be crazily personal or opinionated. It seems reporters/journalists like DeRusha and Lileks do a good job making a blog informative and entertaining without giving out too much information about their life.

But I would pay good money to see, "Man...Don was a huge a-hole today."

Teaching is about equiping people (particularly youth) to form their own opinions. What better way to do this then through example... out of the classroom, clearly. I think teachers should be REQUIRED to blog.

OK. I'm a teacher. I got called on the carpet today by the principal. So in a fit of pique, I decide to blog about what an idiot my boss, the principal, is. My students read it, other teachers read it, the principal reads it. Help me understand how this was a good idea.

As I said in my previous post, anyone can blog if they want to. But anyone can also get themselves in trouble by blogging about things they shouldn't. So go ahead -- blog away. Just be careful what you write about. I mean, don't you think there's a REASON you don't see Derusha blogging about what an a--hole Don was today?

The issue is not whether people should or shouldn't be allowed to have a blog. The issue is that people need to understand that they will be held accountable for what they write. Just be an adult -- exercise some discipline and common sense.

Yes! Everyone should blog! Blogging is fun.