Concerned about appearing impartial, CBC, Canada’s publicly funded TV station, is taking a hard line on staff privately blogging. The new guidelines require the permission of the employee’s supervisor:
The blog cannot advocate for a group or a cause, or express partisan political opinion. It should also avoid controversial subjects or contain material that could bring CBC/Radio-Canada into disrepute.
One NPR blogger nervous about the CBC precedent inadvertently ran afoul of his own organization’s ethics guidelines.
Is it reasonable to expect journalists working for publicly funded news services to restrict their private blogging on controversial topics?
(Hat tip: Romenesko)
