The Washington Post threatens to ‘terminate’ employees who disparage advertisers on social media
The Washington Post has unveiled a new social media policy which threatens the ultimate sanction against any employee found to be bad mouthing advertisers on social media.
The Washington Post threatens to ‘terminate’ employees who disparage advertisers on social media
The policy covers any activity deemed to "adversely affect the Post's customers, advertisers, subscribers, vendors, suppliers or partners", with anyone falling foul of the rule potentially facing the sack.
Cases would be judged on an individual basis by the Post’s management with the full spectrum of disciplinary sanctions on the table "up to and including termination of employment."
These rules have reportedly been in place since 1 May and are applicable to the entire workforce, not just journalists, with additional stipulations banning everyone on the payroll from using social media during work hours – unless their job requires it.
A further clause encourages employees to report any colleagues whom they might be suspicious of to the companies human resources department for further investigation.
Unsurprisingly staff representatives have come out against the hard line policy and are currently engaged in discussions with management to have the provisions expunged in order to arrive at a new labour agreement.
The Post hasn't always been out of step with the social media age, having launched its own Snapchat Discover app just four months ago to bolster its Millenial readership.