Associated Press on Social Media Policy: Too Far Gone?

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As the social web has exploded in growth, so has the need for companies to respond and set guidelines. For large companies especially, these rules can be key to avoiding PR disasters. You have to contemplate what might happen if someone says or does something stupid.

However, a lot of media companies just don’t seem to get social media. But the venerable Associated Press seems to have crossed the line by asking its employees to not only control what they say, but what their friends say. Now its employee union is fighting back.

Objections to AP’s Policy

According to Editor & Publisher, the News Media Guild, which represents 1500+ AP employees and journalists, is speaking out about two items in the new AP social media guidelines, issued last Thursday.

The first policy forbids any talk of AP internal operations. The second, more objectionable policy requires employees to delete certain things that their friends say on their Facebook page.

Here are the two policies, taken directly out of the AP’s social networking guidelines:

“Q. Anything specific to Facebook?

It’s a good idea to monitor your profile page to make sure material posted by others doesn’t violate AP standards; any such material should be deleted. Also, managers should not issue friend requests to subordinates, since that could be awkward for employees. It’s fine if employees want to initiate the friend process with their bosses.”

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“Q. What are the general guidelines for such accounts?

Employees must identify themselves as being from the AP if they are using the networks for work in any way. Posting material about the AP’s internal operations is prohibited on employees’ personal pages, and employees also should avoid including political affiliations in their profiles and steer clear of making any postings that express political views or take stands on contentious issues.”

The News Media Guild’s administrator, Kevin Keane, focused specifically on the Facebook profile policy in his response:

“It is making some people cringe. It is not appropriate for a company that heralds free speech.”

Finding a Middle Ground

Traditional media outlets have been all over the map with social media. While organizations like CNN, The New York Times and Gannett Co. have effectively utilized social media, other organizations are either catching up, haven’t been consistent, or just have made policies in fear of social technology’s repercussions.

The new AP policy falls in the middle of the spectrum. At the beginning of the memo, the AP clearly states that they don’t want to quash the use of social media:

“The bottom line is that the company supports social networking as a personal and professional tool, but expects employees to bear in mind how their actions might reflect on the AP.”

And while both policies in question were made with the intention of protecting the AP brand, we’re pretty sure that telling employees that they have to control the content of others is going too far. What others post on your social profiles should not be grounds for punishment. You can control what you post, but not what others post. Asking for that is just too much.

The best option for the Associated Press is to sit down with its employees and address these concerns and create a policy that takes everybody’s interests into account. Yes, social media can cause embarrassment, but the benefits of fast, direct communication are too much for even the AP to ignore.