BLOGGING FRANKLY

posted by James Reel

    Opera singer turned opera marketer Rich Russell has left the blogosphere, citing “a bit of a conflict of interest and the inability to speak freely or usefully.” He hasn’t posted regularly since becoming Sarasota Opera’s marketing director last fall; I assumed he was devoting most of his time to learning the ropes and settling in and contending with all those other new-job clichés. I have no idea whether he was being reticent of his own accord or his boss warned him that blogging could be hazardous to his continuing employment, but I’m more concerned about the possibility of self-censorship. Rich Russell has every right to express his opinions on his own blog, and he could have told lots of juicy backstage stories and made plenty of interesting observations about the production and marketing of opera in contemporary America, all without embarrassing his employer. As long as he didn’t do anything stupid and defamatory—which is apparently beyond the ability of a lot of work bloggers in tech fields—he shouldn’t have had to worry about compromising his company or offending the boss. (Not that this was necessarily his problem; I’m using Rich’s example as a springboard for discussion of a more general concern.)
    My position is rather different from his. This blog is hosted on the KUAT server and is part of KUAT-FM’s Web presence, and I contribute to it on company time. Opinions are most decidedly my own, but given the quasi-official nature of the blog, I’m sure readers suspect I’m some sort of mouthpiece for KUAT. True, the few times I mention station policies they tend to be practices I agree with, and if I fiercely object to some new directive I might hold my tongue. Then again, I might not. It would be idiotic for me to write that my co-workers smell bad and my boss is a vicious moron, because that’s the sort of thing that would rightly get the plug pulled on the blog, and perhaps even my employment. (Calling the boss a moron on a company Web site would be equivalent to insubordination, and would be a lot like coming into the office at 9 a.m., writing “This place sucks” on company letterhead, and mailing copies to all the company’s clients.) On the other hand, if I were to write that all my co-workers are experts and the boss is the most brilliant manager in his field, readers would probably regard this as an act of sycophancy, no matter how sincere I might be. So my practice has been to remark only sparingly on KUAT specifics. Still, I do feel free to comment, often critically, on trends in public radio (the worst of which, thankfully, are not followed here), and on any number of other cultural subjects. It shouldn’t be a matter of all or nothing, and I’m sorry Rich Russell felt it necessary to retire from blogging.