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| Who talks to the news media?; Jobs at risk for talking to reporters | |
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| Topic Started: Jul 3 2009, 11:38 AM (131 Views) | |
| Steve Wilson | Jul 3 2009, 11:38 AM Post #1 |
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Should you muzzle your employees? The Ohio Department of Public Safety, which includes the Ohio Highway Patrol, is reconsidering a new policy that warns employees they could be fired if they talk to reporters without authorization. It seems they are taking the "speak with one voice" a little to the extreme. The Columbus Dispatch reports that on the day the policy was enacted last month, the head of the Highway Patrol's public information office wrote that it conflicted with patrol policy, state regulations and was released despite the patrol's written concerns. A spokeswoman for the Ohio Civil Service Association, which represents BMV and other public safety employees, said the threat of termination for talking to the news media was a "scare tactic. "It (the policy) is so broad it violates our employees' freedom of speech. We think that speaking with reporters is protected speech," she told The Dispatch. The Department's Director of Communications, Thomas Hunter, told The Dispatch the department is committed to the open sharing of information and that the policy ensures coordinated release of news during times of crisis. |
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2:23 PM Sep 9