Stupid Statement Blog Entry
November 13, 2008 11:03 PM Subscribe
I called someone's political statement "stupid" on my blog, and he e-mailed my employer about it, asking my boss to tell me to remove all references to him from my blog. How to respond?
Background: I have run a semi-popular community blog for about three years. 99% positive stuff, very little snark, lots of civics cheerleading. Recently I was hired as the "online content manager" at one of the local TV stations - great gig. The bosses knew about my local blog - that was one of the reasons that they hired me: passion for my community, knowledge of local events, web-savvy, etc. I subsequently posted a disclaimer on my blog, reminding readers that what I say and post on my blog does not in any way reflect on my employer, fellow employees, management, etc.
Part of how I stay on top of things is with Google alerts for mentions of my community: I get daily alerts about news links, blog mentions, and such. A few weeks ago, I got one that contained a Twitter post about "John Doe," who posted that he might be called back to serve as a temporary news director at a competing station in our market. He had the job a few years ago and got pulled back to fill in for a few days, including election night.
I added him to my "Tweet" list and began following his updates, which were mostly about his full-time occupation as a chef.
The day after the election. he posted a tweet about how our state went for McCain, thanks to "redneck Palin supporters in the backwoods" of our state.
Well, I thought that was a pretty stupid thing to say. This guy is fairly well-known in our state as a chef, and basically he just insulted half of our state.
I posted an entry on my community blog under the category of "Stupid Statements" and included a screenshot of his "redneck" entry, asking my readers to guess who it was. One person did, but didn't explicitly name him.
About a week later, in a "catch-all" blog entry with updates on several items, I told people his name and linked to his Twitter page and his chef website.
The next day, I discovered that his Twitter account had been blocked; it is now "invite only." Hm. Guess he didn't like that his Tweets were available to the entire world.
Then it got weird: today, I got called in to my bosses' boss' office. He showed me an e-mail that the chef guy had written to him, which included this:
"On (his blog), he recently took two statements of mine from Twitter and posted them on his site, calling these 'Incredibly Stupid Statement(s)'. Now he's certainly entitled to his opinion, as I am mine, but when he holds someone out for public ridicule, especially using the word "stupid," that's slanderous. So I am asking you politely and in the spirit of cooperation as a fellow broadcaster, to direct him to remove all references to me on his website."
My boss - and his boss - reacted well, thankfully. They told me that they had no right to ask me to remove what I had posted on my blog, and further pointed out that this guy had basically shot himself in the foot with his remark on his Twitter account. I offered to remove the post out of respect for my employer, but they said not to worry about it. They did, however, reasonably ask that I not post any more about this incident, and I agreed.
But now I'm at a loss. This jerk didn't like that I made a blog entry about what HE said, and instead of contacting me, he wrote a whiney e-mail to my bosses...in the words of a lawyer friend of mine, he was trying to interfere in my "employment contract." I don't know if it was THAT serious, but it sure pissed me off.
Suggestions on how - or if - to respond?
Background: I have run a semi-popular community blog for about three years. 99% positive stuff, very little snark, lots of civics cheerleading. Recently I was hired as the "online content manager" at one of the local TV stations - great gig. The bosses knew about my local blog - that was one of the reasons that they hired me: passion for my community, knowledge of local events, web-savvy, etc. I subsequently posted a disclaimer on my blog, reminding readers that what I say and post on my blog does not in any way reflect on my employer, fellow employees, management, etc.
Part of how I stay on top of things is with Google alerts for mentions of my community: I get daily alerts about news links, blog mentions, and such. A few weeks ago, I got one that contained a Twitter post about "John Doe," who posted that he might be called back to serve as a temporary news director at a competing station in our market. He had the job a few years ago and got pulled back to fill in for a few days, including election night.
I added him to my "Tweet" list and began following his updates, which were mostly about his full-time occupation as a chef.
The day after the election. he posted a tweet about how our state went for McCain, thanks to "redneck Palin supporters in the backwoods" of our state.
Well, I thought that was a pretty stupid thing to say. This guy is fairly well-known in our state as a chef, and basically he just insulted half of our state.
I posted an entry on my community blog under the category of "Stupid Statements" and included a screenshot of his "redneck" entry, asking my readers to guess who it was. One person did, but didn't explicitly name him.
About a week later, in a "catch-all" blog entry with updates on several items, I told people his name and linked to his Twitter page and his chef website.
The next day, I discovered that his Twitter account had been blocked; it is now "invite only." Hm. Guess he didn't like that his Tweets were available to the entire world.
Then it got weird: today, I got called in to my bosses' boss' office. He showed me an e-mail that the chef guy had written to him, which included this:
"On (his blog), he recently took two statements of mine from Twitter and posted them on his site, calling these 'Incredibly Stupid Statement(s)'. Now he's certainly entitled to his opinion, as I am mine, but when he holds someone out for public ridicule, especially using the word "stupid," that's slanderous. So I am asking you politely and in the spirit of cooperation as a fellow broadcaster, to direct him to remove all references to me on his website."
My boss - and his boss - reacted well, thankfully. They told me that they had no right to ask me to remove what I had posted on my blog, and further pointed out that this guy had basically shot himself in the foot with his remark on his Twitter account. I offered to remove the post out of respect for my employer, but they said not to worry about it. They did, however, reasonably ask that I not post any more about this incident, and I agreed.
But now I'm at a loss. This jerk didn't like that I made a blog entry about what HE said, and instead of contacting me, he wrote a whiney e-mail to my bosses...in the words of a lawyer friend of mine, he was trying to interfere in my "employment contract." I don't know if it was THAT serious, but it sure pissed me off.
Suggestions on how - or if - to respond?
This post was deleted for the following reason: poster's request -- cortex
Best answer: I'd move on. You won, if you want to calculate points.
posted by InsanePenguin at 11:16 PM on November 13, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by InsanePenguin at 11:16 PM on November 13, 2008 [1 favorite]
Best answer: What possible benefit could come from dwelling on this further? Let it go.
posted by grouse at 11:16 PM on November 13, 2008
posted by grouse at 11:16 PM on November 13, 2008
Best answer: I think the best way to piss him off is to ignore him utterly.
Let it go.
posted by Class Goat at 11:17 PM on November 13, 2008 [1 favorite]
Let it go.
posted by Class Goat at 11:17 PM on November 13, 2008 [1 favorite]
Best answer: but when he holds someone out for public ridicule, especially using the word "stupid," that's slanderous.
Well, for starters, that's just not true.
The dude needs to understand that when be broadcasts his opinions to the world, people are free to discuss and criticize his statements. You'd think that people living in the U.S. wouldn't need a First Amendment primer.
posted by jayder at 11:19 PM on November 13, 2008
Well, for starters, that's just not true.
The dude needs to understand that when be broadcasts his opinions to the world, people are free to discuss and criticize his statements. You'd think that people living in the U.S. wouldn't need a First Amendment primer.
posted by jayder at 11:19 PM on November 13, 2008
Best answer: I wouldn't respond. Any further interweb actions could actually cause problems with your job. Anything you send to this Chef guy could be forwarded to your boss, and lead to a slow but potentially damaging snowball effect. Especially since you've been asked NOT to post more about the incident. Not the same, I realize, but still...
Ignore him as best you can. Make snarky remarks to your friends if necessary, but avoid any further written comments that he could get his hands on. If he sends you anything personally, you could respond, but with great caution as to your wording. If he turns to harassing you however, not responding initially will look all the more professional when you have to take it up with his boss, etc. - He can't say you provoked him when you've said nothing at all.
posted by Kimothy at 11:19 PM on November 13, 2008
Ignore him as best you can. Make snarky remarks to your friends if necessary, but avoid any further written comments that he could get his hands on. If he sends you anything personally, you could respond, but with great caution as to your wording. If he turns to harassing you however, not responding initially will look all the more professional when you have to take it up with his boss, etc. - He can't say you provoked him when you've said nothing at all.
posted by Kimothy at 11:19 PM on November 13, 2008
Response by poster: Wow - thanks, gang. Of all the options that I considered, "moving on" wasn't one of them. But you're right. Nothing to be gained - other than a fleeting sense of "back at ya, jerk."
Let it go. Thanks.
posted by davidmsc at 11:23 PM on November 13, 2008
Let it go. Thanks.
posted by davidmsc at 11:23 PM on November 13, 2008
I dunno... It's certainly a jerk thing to do to write letters to people's bosses about stuff like this. And though not nearly as jerky and definitely NOT slanderous, what you did is also a bit of a blip on my jerk radar too. I'd put it behind you as all other options are an utter waste of time.
posted by drpynchon at 11:24 PM on November 13, 2008
posted by drpynchon at 11:24 PM on November 13, 2008
Response by poster: And FWIW: I think that typing all this out did in fact help me to exorcise it from my system, and seeing the consensus above has definitely helped.
posted by davidmsc at 11:25 PM on November 13, 2008
posted by davidmsc at 11:25 PM on November 13, 2008
Best answer: This is probably the kind of thing that's better answered by a lawyer than by ask.mefi. In general, I think the best reaction to this sort of ass-hattery is public humiliation: expose the behaviour so he looks like an idiot. However, you've shut out this option by agreeing to your employer's request that you keep quiet about it. Moreover, since you're managing the online content at a TV station, and the person in question is a news director at a competing TV station, you're coming dangerously close to mixing your personal opinions with your professional life.
There may be other legal methods for getting back at him, but I doubt any of them are good ones. My advice is to just accept that sometimes people do asshole things and you have to let it slide. You've come out unscathed anyway, so it shouldn't be too hard.
posted by Loudmax at 11:32 PM on November 13, 2008
There may be other legal methods for getting back at him, but I doubt any of them are good ones. My advice is to just accept that sometimes people do asshole things and you have to let it slide. You've come out unscathed anyway, so it shouldn't be too hard.
posted by Loudmax at 11:32 PM on November 13, 2008
Response by poster: Heh..forgot to preface my post with YANML :-)
posted by davidmsc at 11:37 PM on November 13, 2008
posted by davidmsc at 11:37 PM on November 13, 2008
This is easy enough to find from your profile, but you probably knew that.
Since you have agreed not to post about this any more, don't post about this any more.
In the future, don't do "stupid." If you want to point out that someone has said something ill-informed or inappropriate, you're enough of a writer to find a way to describe their statement that doesn't trivially go back to describe them as a person (even if misread).
Alternatively, you could launch a subtle vendetta against this guy, devoting big chunks of the next few years of your life to making subtle digs about him in public, pushing the line where he'll be motivated to write to your bosses again. Hooray for small towns.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 11:37 PM on November 13, 2008
Since you have agreed not to post about this any more, don't post about this any more.
In the future, don't do "stupid." If you want to point out that someone has said something ill-informed or inappropriate, you're enough of a writer to find a way to describe their statement that doesn't trivially go back to describe them as a person (even if misread).
Alternatively, you could launch a subtle vendetta against this guy, devoting big chunks of the next few years of your life to making subtle digs about him in public, pushing the line where he'll be motivated to write to your bosses again. Hooray for small towns.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 11:37 PM on November 13, 2008
This "This Week in Law" podcast from April 2008 is about Blogger and Podcaster Liability. I listened to it ages ago, and can't remember the content exactly, but it may be worth a listen.
I agree with sentiment urging you to move on. The guy sounds like a grade-A jerk. However, it couldn't hurt for you to put a disclaimer on your About page to the effect of "This site is a community site yadda yadda yadda and neither affiliated with nor endorsed by my place of work etc)..."
posted by jim.christian at 12:06 AM on November 14, 2008
I agree with sentiment urging you to move on. The guy sounds like a grade-A jerk. However, it couldn't hurt for you to put a disclaimer on your About page to the effect of "This site is a community site yadda yadda yadda and neither affiliated with nor endorsed by my place of work etc)..."
posted by jim.christian at 12:06 AM on November 14, 2008
So you agreed not to mention it again on the internet...and promptly posted about it again on AskMe?
Brilliant!
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:15 AM on November 14, 2008 [1 favorite]
Brilliant!
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:15 AM on November 14, 2008 [1 favorite]
On preview nthing fantabulous timewaster and T.D. Strange: this probably should have been an anonymous post. I know it feels like Mefi is a wonderful little secret place that only we know about, but google knows where we live. Maybe you should have a word with the admins? See if they will delete the post if you ask nicely, now that it's served its purpose.
posted by Chairboy at 1:29 AM on November 14, 2008
posted by Chairboy at 1:29 AM on November 14, 2008
I, too, am stymied as to why you would want to pursue this any further. Although a blog is supposed to reflect the writer's opinions--isn't that what defines a blog?--you might have chosen a less inflammatory word than "stupid". That said, the guy is clearly petty and should have approached you first (not your boss) with his grievance. The best thing to do is to take the high road and move on. Life is far too short to hold grudges.
posted by parkerama at 1:43 AM on November 14, 2008
posted by parkerama at 1:43 AM on November 14, 2008
...
What was the point of this ask Mefi?
Isn't it a bit like starting a MeTa thread to complain about another poster, someone flagging you, or moderator? Despite nothing actually happened.
First, it sounds like his twitter account is, in the foggy online world, intended as primarily personal/friends/private, vs public space. Not that anyone seems to give a shit, but even online, there are distinctions. He's primarily a chef. He doesn't usually range to political opinions.
Then, you, working in broadcasting, pulled out a comment from that for public mockery and ridicule.
That is a bit jerkish.
In return - he's been a bit of a jerk by going to your bosses. Because you're an online content manager. And you run this local blog.
Now, given your job-role - Is he fully aware that your blog is entirely separate? If he wasn't, that does seem to be the logical place to look too.
The comment itself was polite.
As it is - you haven't suffered in any way from this. He has, so - all up, chalk it up as a win, and let it go?
posted by Elysum at 3:23 AM on November 14, 2008
What was the point of this ask Mefi?
Isn't it a bit like starting a MeTa thread to complain about another poster, someone flagging you, or moderator? Despite nothing actually happened.
First, it sounds like his twitter account is, in the foggy online world, intended as primarily personal/friends/private, vs public space. Not that anyone seems to give a shit, but even online, there are distinctions. He's primarily a chef. He doesn't usually range to political opinions.
Then, you, working in broadcasting, pulled out a comment from that for public mockery and ridicule.
That is a bit jerkish.
In return - he's been a bit of a jerk by going to your bosses. Because you're an online content manager. And you run this local blog.
Now, given your job-role - Is he fully aware that your blog is entirely separate? If he wasn't, that does seem to be the logical place to look too.
The comment itself was polite.
As it is - you haven't suffered in any way from this. He has, so - all up, chalk it up as a win, and let it go?
posted by Elysum at 3:23 AM on November 14, 2008
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posted by niles at 11:15 PM on November 13, 2008 [1 favorite]