CNN correspondent Erick Erickson is in serious hot water for his tweet about the Democratic National Convention. The women's advocacy organization, UltraViolet, circulated a petition today urging CNN to fire Erickson (over 30,000 signatures so far) because of his "sexist" comment. This is the tweet that has been heard 'round the DNC and cyber water cooler:
"First night of the Vagina Monologues in Charlotte going as expected."
Erickson missed the memo on journalistic ethics and integrity when posting on social media (especially on behalf of CNN). He also forgot this simple netiquette rule: "if you wouldn't say it to your mother, then don't post it on social media."
And how did Erickson respond to the public's reaction to his tweet, especially from women?
“My apologies to those offended by my tweet. Wasn’t my intention.”
Sounds like a half-hearted attempt to save face so he doesn't lose his job. I don't know what his "intention" was but he obviously knee-jerked that tweet and didn't think about the consequences of his public comment.
Erickson wouldn't be the first person to lose his job as a result of an insulting tweet heard 'round the world. Learn from Erickson's mistake...and his comment goes way beyond just a "whoops" on social media. Think BEFORE you tweet. When you insult the First Lady of the United States of America, that's a pretty big deal.
Just shows to go ya, I mean goes to show ya, you can work and work and work for years to gather a following. And one poorly-worded tweet(whether intended or not) and it's back to the mailroom. I mostly tweet about blogs and articles I read that are helpful, and I do a little self-promotion here and there. I don't post argumentative tweets regarding politics or religion. I have opinions on both, but I prefer to keep them close to the vest. It makes no sense to say something that "might" upset some of your followers, because you can bet people will get offended (as they should in some cases).
ReplyDeleteErickson is a political correspondent for CNN so he's all about political debate BUT his comment crossed the journalistic ethical line. He was bombarded by angry tweeters last night after his comment. It's one thing to have a "healthy" debate but it's another to bite the hand that feeds you. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. Everyone is taking bets that CNN will fire him and he'll get picked up by Fox. We shall see. Either way, his rep is toast at the moment. He's made controversial remarks in the past concerning women, but this tweet was the last straw.
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