New York Times has warned journalists not to offer their personal politics views on social media.
Public editor Liz Spayd published an internal letter that Times standards editor Phil Corbett sent to staffers, noting it is the second time in three months that employees have been warned.
While Spayd notes that Corbett claims “no particular incident prompted the note,” the public editor thinks reporters have had enough notice.
“By now, I find it hard to imagine that violators are unaware the policy exists. Maybe repeat offenders need a little kick in the pants,” Spayd wrote.
Corbett’s note starts off, “As we enter the home stretch of the presidential campaign, all of us in the newsroom should keep in mind our longstanding policies on social media. On personal social-media accounts, Times newsroom staffers should avoid editorializing, endorsing candidates or otherwise promoting their own political views.”
“This applies to every newsroom journalist in every department,” Corbett added. “Our colleagues are working hard to maintain The Times’s reputation for credibility and fairness, and we should not do anything to make their jobs tougher.”
Corbett also warned staffers, “Everything we do in public is likely to be associated with The Times.”
He concluded: “We should leave the editorializing to our colleagues on the Opinion side.”