Every story - Huffington Post, AP, et. al. - began by identifying me as Chair of the Oklahoma Women's Coalition. I wasn't speaking on behalf of the Coalition but I am chair of the Coalition and last Wednesday I was re-elected to serve as chair for another year -- so this is an issue for me.
Even though I am not a journalist in the traditional sense, Kelly McBride, an ethics group leader at the Poynter Institute, has some good suggestions we all should consider:
Problem is, if I waited until my board reacted to another post like the S-cartoon one, it would be a little late. And don't tell me to just "be more careful" or "control myself" as that, obviously, isn't always going to happen. (Yup; I'm human.)1. Use social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook because familiarity with the tools is important.
2. Always be mindful that you represent more than just yourself. Even if you are an individual journalist, the stakes are higher than with other professions.
3. Presume your tweets, status updates or other content on these sites will go further in terms of reach than you intend for it to go.
4. Ask your boss to follow you on Twitter because it’s a good accountability measure.
I think I just need to stop blogging while I am chair of the Oklahoma Women's Coalition.
But I'd like the Oklahoma Women's Network website and blog to continue - just without me.
I've thought about transferring management to a team of Oklahoma women bloggers to maintain for the next year. They could post under their own names and/or invite other Oklahoma women to submit guest posts. I'd hope they'd do a better job than I have of limiting this blog's scope to OKLAHOMA + WOMEN topics.
Think anyone would take on the task? Got a better idea? If you have any suggestions for how to transition the Oklahoma Women's Network Blog over to "generation 2.0" I hope you'll leave a comment. Thanks!
Jean, I found this blog through Twitter, and think you are doing a wonderful job. I hope that you continue to be a part of this.
ReplyDeleteYour exit from this blog is a huge loss. I hope your leadership on the Coalition accomplishes as much as this blog does. You've done a brilliant job. I will email you to let you know what my contributions can be. You will be greatly missed, and I hope you will return sooner than later. Let us know what the coalition accomplishes so we can feel better about this sacrifice. We love you, Jean. You make such a difference.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the nice vote of confidence. I appreciate your kind words, ladies!
ReplyDelete:-)
Don't even think about leaving the blog! You have done an excellent job reporting, AND COMMENTING, on Oklahoma women's issues. I value your insights, and I'm sure many other Oklahoma women will miss you as much as I will.
ReplyDeleteJean, I hope you'll reconsider. Isn't one of your roles as chair of the coalition is to bring attention to issues? You do this exceptionally well. I hope you'll use this to kick off a very open discussion with your board on the subject of engaging the community.
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