Be Careful What You Blog, It Could Cost You Your Job

We’ve all heard the stories about bloggers who have written things about their companies in their personal blogs that have caused them to get fired.  Heather Armstrong of Dooce.com is probably one of the most well-known examples of this, but have you considered that your company could fire you just because you blog regardless of whether or not you ever mention your company (by name or not) in your blog?

That’s exactly what happened to Chez Pazienza who was fired from his job as a producer at CNN because he wrote a personal blog.  While his blog never mentioned anything about CNN or his job, he did write openly about his opinions and thoughts.  Many of those opinions could be considered controversial, but again, he never mentioned anything about his job or his employer, CNN, on his blog (Deus Ex Malcontent). 

The learning for bloggers from Chez Pazienza’s experience, if you’re going to write a blog with controversial content, you may want to consider using a pseudonym.  Afterall, CNN’s gripe with Chez was supposedly not that he wrote a blog but what he was writing on that blog.  Alternatively, check with your HR department and get something in writing that says it’s okay for you to write your blog.  You’d think that a personal blog that does not mention anything about your employer, job or work life wouldn’t affect your employment, but based on Chez Pazienza’s experience with CNN, it’s best to err on the side of caution where your career and pay is involved.

What do you think about CNN firing Chez Pazienza?  You can read the full story of CNN firing blogger Chez Pazienza in his post on Huffington Post.