Chez Pazienza was a blogger like any other. He blogged about music, movies and politics, with a particular eye on the way the media framed issues and obsessed over certain celebrities. Like many bloggers, Chez wasn’t afraid to let the dirty words fly and give the virtual finger to anyone he thought was full of it.
But Mr. Pazienza was different from most bloggers in that he had a day job as a veteran news producer for CNN. Chez has 16 years of experience and two Emmys to his name, but his career took a sharp turn a few days ago when he received a call from his boss, Ed Litvak, who told him his name was attached to some very “opinionated” blog posts floating around the blogosphere.
Chez was fired because of his blog. He wasn’t given a chance to take it offline or write under a pseudonym; he was simply fired. Apparently CNN was concerned about the content of his posts. Pazienza’s blog, Deus Ex Malcontent, doesn’t pull any punches and leans to the left, but his views are certainly not out of the mainstream… at least the mainstream of the blogosphere.
So, what has CNN gained from this?
At this point they’ve gained the ire of thousands of bloggers and a PR black eye for those who believe in the freedom of social media. CNN is not the first behemoth to look down its nose at its employee-bloggers, but this behemoth forgot that these employees are networked via the social web. Suddenly the little guy isn’t so little.
Chez fired back on his blog and cross-posted the story on The Huffington Post (which could be described as the New York Times of the blogosphere) and delivered a blistering attack on Old Media’s patronizing perception of bloggers:
“CNN fired me, and did it without even a thought to the power that I might wield as an average person with a brain, a computer, and an audience. The mainstream media doesn’t believe that new media can embarrass them, hurt them or generally hold them accountable in any way, and they’ve never been more wrong.”
The social web is the great equalizer. It has not afforded all participants the bully pulpit just yet, but the social and aggregative aspects of Web 2.0 allow a greater chance at popular exposure than ever before. Previously, this honor was only given to those blessed by the mainstream gatekeepers, but the social web is making it clear that the bloggers don’t need their blessings anymore — a lesson CNN would do well to remember.