The Wendy Bell debacle: Employers need clear, consistent social-media policies; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 6/24/16

Beverly A. Block, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; The Wendy Bell debacle: Employers need clear, consistent social-media policies:

"I do not mean to minimize the importance of the dialogue about privilege and bias that has stemmed from Ms. Bell’s Facebook post, which offered her speculation as to the race and family situations of the Wilkinsburg killers. But, strictly from a business and legal perspective, this situation presents us with a teachable moment.

And the lesson is: Any organization with a social-media presence — which is just about every organization these days — needs to ensure that its employees understand that anything publicized in the public domain (either within the scope of their employment or that is reasonably attributable to their employer) must be aligned with the organization’s social-media policy.

Employers should have a formal policy and require employees to read and sign it. Employers should require employees to undergo social-media training before authorizing them to represent the organization in the public domain. And employers should have a protocol in place to address violations of social-media policy in a formal and uniform manner."

Anchor Wendy Bell addresses WTAE firing over Facebook posts; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 3/30/16

Maria Sciullo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Anchor Wendy Bell addresses WTAE firing over Facebook posts:

"The Pittsburgh Black Media Federation, in a news release Wednesday night, said its board members and WTAE management had met earlier in the day to discuss the Bell matter and other issues related to diversity.

The announcement of the firing occurred before the meeting took place, and the federation stressed that it had not called for Ms. Bell’s termination.

It said the station agreed to partner with it on several matters including a meeting twice a year to review WTAE’s coverage of African-American communities and other issues related to diversity and inclusion. Part of that will be working with the federation to recruit journalists of color for its newsroom."