Personal Blogs Creating Controversy

An article posted on www.ajr.org has reminded me that freedom of speech is not all that it is cracked up to be. The article explains numerous cases in which journalists have lost their jobs and essentially their careers because of their personal blogs posted outside of their work environment.

Nadine Haobsh, a journalist, lost her current job with Ladies Home Journal and also lost her upcoming job where she was already scheduled to work at Seventeen Magazine. Haobsh was writing a personal blog of simple beauty tips from an editor's point of view. Little did she realize that this would actually compromise her job.

So, this begs the question. Should journalists like Haobsh be stopped from writing thier opinion? And when does a journalist's blog turn from a simple point of view to showing insider information or jeopardizing the face of thier company?

I believe that we, as news readers, should not be deprived of the actual good writing that is out there. We should be able to log on to not only newspaper sites, but also to blogs, and find a well-written, thought-provoking piece of writing from someone who can actually write. We should be able to read one's opinion without their company's peering eyes. News articles are supposed to be unbiased, so how else are news journalists supposed to get their views out there?