Mon 5 Nov 2007
Recently I gave an interview to the Ryerson Review of Journalism. They wanted to know my opinion on the new blogging guidelines laid down by the CBC. A few friends advised me not to give the interview, but it seemed churlish not to do so… Ryerson is my alma mater (although I took radio and television arts, not journalism) and the Ryerson Review of Journalism is about giving students practice in their chosen field. So to me it was more about helping out a student.
Apparently budding journalist Emerald Austerberry approached several CBC and CBC related bloggers and a few of us consented to give interviews.
And it appears some of us came down on separate sides of the fence concerning the new CBC blogging guidelines…
November 6th, 2007 at 10:53 am
everyone needs to blog responsibly
no matter whether it may be to a
corporate affiliation or small
business.
however, personal expression should
not be limited to and if you have
nothing nice to say, don’t say or
else keep it private where only
certain people can read it or
private for yourself.
November 7th, 2007 at 12:01 am
Good for you for giving the interview!
November 7th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
That even us CBC bloggers disagree on the guidelines proves, to me, that it’s a healthy little community we have going.
And the fact that we agree on the most important parts proves, to me, that we aren’t idiots.
I always like to hear what you have to say, Joe, but I’m surprised that the RRJ didn’t run any of what I said. It was on the other side of the fence, all right.
November 7th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
Thanks folks.
Ouimet, I was quite surprised that you weren’t included in the interview. A serious omission, I would say.
November 9th, 2007 at 12:59 am
What struck me as the most curious part of your comments in the article are those where you mention remarks from your new boss. It sure gave me the sense that they didn’t quite grok what/when/how you blog. The notion that ‘you won’t have time to blog’ suggests that A) they assumed you did this thing at work (and you would now be much too busy to goof off thusly) or B) that they now control your personal life as well and would keep you similarly engaged and prevented from blogging. One hopes that this kind of misunderstanding has been cleared up.
Like Ouimet says the evidence thus far has made it quite clear that ya’ll (CBC blogging types) are not idiots and the whole business of these ‘guidelines’ is about corporate buttock shielding. I grind my teeth every time I think about the paranoia involved in these kinds of decisions, particularly when they end up impinging on the voices of people who clearly have a deep respect and affection for the institute that by all appearances is scared silly of their hobby.
November 9th, 2007 at 3:52 am
I guess it’s a little ironic that I asked at work about participating in the interview before I agreed to talk to Emerald. To their credit, once they found out the subject matter they basically gave me carte blanche; the only “warning” was a reminder that I couldn’t discuss competitive matters, which we all recognized wasn’t going to be an issue.
I was also a little surprised not to see Ouimet in the item directly, given that she was the prime instigator of the Manifesto. Still, I thought the article was well-balanced: Justin Beach’s comments were pretty pointed, and Emerald included a lot of the criticisms that been raised.
Emerald’s a good interviewer, and a good writer: it took some not-insignificant talent on her part both to keep me on topic and to derive something coherent from my rambling answers.
As for having time to post… well, I’m impressed that you (Joe) find as much as you do. I’ve been averaging about three posts a month recently, and I find it hard to reach even that. However, we both pale in comparison to one of my co-workers (who also only ever posts from home, and who contributes to a second blog to boot).
November 9th, 2007 at 9:12 am
I agree with Grondzilla, those words from your boss have been haunting me as well. I interpreted them to mean you would be swamped with overtime. I never considered Grondzilla’s interpretations.
As for me, my IM interview might have been conducted too late to make the piece. Although, if that was the case, Emerald could have told me. I guess I could ask him what happened. But the gist of what I was saying was that the rules were too strict for my liking, and that the CBC has no right to tell me what I can and cannot write about in my free time.
I came right out and said that I would defy the Guidelines, CBC management be damned.
Seems to me that this would have made an interesting counterpoint to the other opinions expressed in the article.
I don’t get the RRJ. I know they are students, but that publication is not very good at all. Worst still, it’s all we have in this country. And every time I complain on my blog I get all kinds of apologies from them. They make me feel like a petty cad.
I did 1 more interview with the RRJ, for the print magazine, on “the future of the CBC.” It will be on sale in March or something like that. I’ll give them one more chance. If the article is crap I’m going to give them both barrels.