mcangeli
Loading ... So it appears that mere mortals (by that I mean, you and I) are not alone in the blogosphere any more. According to an article on FoxNews.com a couple of members of The Whitehouse Cabinet are now blogging (Chertoff, head of homeland security and Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt). Its nice to think that they have stuff to get off their chests but should public officials really be blogging about stuff that happens at work? According to the article Chertoff attacked the New York Times Editorial Staff saying:
the newspaper’s editorial staff “hyperventilates” about the department’s effort to arrest gangs and get illegal aliens off the street
Whether or not thats the case, a government official (appointed or not) should not be venting in any kind of public forum such as that. Yes, I know about the First Amendment and how its his “right” but still. Today he’s talking about the NYT Ed staff, tomorrow he could be talking about the Russian Premier or Hugo Chavez. Figures in public office have always had to be a little more careful with what they say and who they say it to. But thats what I think I want to know what you think. Should Government Officials blog like the rest of us??
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October 22nd, 2007 at 5:28 pm
I do not really believe that government officials should be blogging publicly about their work lives or maybe not even their home lives. There is too much sticky stuff that goes with government. It should be that if they want to have a blog, that’s fine but it has to be private and they HAVE to use some handle that cannot be linked to their real names and they can’t blog about work and the issues that go along with that. Other than those things, they could have a blog. If they really want to vent though and do it safely, why not do it the old fashion way and pick up a pen and paper?
October 30th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
I have to agree with the popular consensus here and say that they should not be blogging about their frustrations in the workplace. They hold positions of power, and with power comes responsibility. They must always heavily guard their public thoughts and actions because they can and will be turned against them, and as happens when one blogs, we don’t always think of the repercussions because we’re blogging relieve stress and to vent.
Not to mention there is the chance that they can accidentally divulge information that shouldn’t be released into the public.