Alec Baldwin courtesy FoxNews
A while back I blogged about how AOL’s plan to maximize money and traffic. Basically it was about AOL’s aim to make stories the most “search engine” and “people” friendly at the same time. You know the news business, “man bites dog” stories are news and if a man didn’t bite the dog, at least raise the possibility in the headline.
Actually DOING what your bosses told you at AOL might get you fired though.
Here’s his headline: “Jim Parsons Won An Emmy – But Got A Rude Message From Loser Alec Baldwin”
As a result, the free lance AOL Blogger Says He Was Fired for Angering Alec Baldwin
“I feel bad about the title,” Miller tells FOX411.com . “AOL wanted attention-getting titles, it didn’t really have to relate to the content, so the title I wrote was sort of purposely misleading. It was meant to be a joke, because the article itself was jokey. I didn’t know Alec Baldwin worked for us, and it was one of eight to ten articles that I had written that day.”
Miller was put “on notice” and then fired.
Rule of thumb for freelance writers…. always do what your employers say to the letter unless, of course, it’s not really what they’d want and it will get your fired. If you’re not sure, consult a tea leaf or crystal ball because they really wanted what they said unless, of course, it would make them look bad.
I guess “CYA” about covers it!
Read more: AOL Blogger Says He Was Fired for Angering Alec Baldwin
Santigold MP3 downloads on September 4th, 2011 at 3:11 am
Our business has been mentioned on a blog in a negative way and I am not sure how I can get the anonymous blogger to remove the post.. I’ve emailed her but have had no response. What are my options and what should my next step be?.