PBS: Mike Elk: Dismissal Signals Change in Direction for HuffPost

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2011/01/mike-elk-dismissal-signals-change-in-direction-for-huffpost025.html

by Mike Elk, January 25, 2011

Last Thursday, I was "fired" as a labor blogger from the Huffington Post by executive business editor Peter Goodman for helping a group of union construction workers disrupt a conference of bankers. (I put fired in quotations marks because I, like the majority of people who blog for the site, was not paid for my contributions.) The workers demanded to know why Pulte Group's vice chairwoman was leading the summit, and how her company grabbed a $900 million government bailout made up of funds that came from the Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009. That bill was intended to create jobs and extend benefits to unemployed workers, but union workers said no jobs were created with this money.

Goodman, who was recently hired away from the New York Times, informed me in a phone conversation that he received complaints from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) about my role in disrupting their convention. I received media accreditation for the conference based on my status as a blogger with the Huffington Post. I then shared my accreditation with a union leader in order to help him gain access to this event.

Goodman said this warranted the termination of my role as a blogger with the Huffington Post. During our phone conversation, he said I misrepresented my relationship as a blogger with the Huffington Post, and he compared my actions to those of disgraced New York Times reporter Jayson Blair. Up until last week, my relationship with the Huffington Pot consisted of me producing over 100 posts without them paying me a dime.
Goodman sees this as an issue of journalistic ethics; I see it quite differently. Goodman was likely paid a substantial amount to leave the New York Times for the Huffington Post.

While Business Insider's sources said Goodman might be getting $300,000 a year, the exact amount isn't as important as the fact that the Huffington Post doesn't have a full-time labor reporter.

FULL story at link.

[Vinnie From Indy]

1. While I completely agree with Elk's sentiments,

he deserved to get fired for being a central participant in an act of civil disobedience and using Huffington Post's credentials without their knowledge. That is unacceptable and it is not the sort of thing a "journalist" should be engaging in as a journalist. It would have been perfectly acceptable if Elk knew about the coming protest and covered it, but it is not ok for him to be a central planner and integral part of the protest and then report on it. Goodman had no choice but to fire him for dragging HuffPo in it without their knowledge.

[leveymg]

2. Three cheers for the union guys, one and a half cheers for Elk's role in the protest.

I agree. This was a "fireable action," even if Elk's intentions were admirable.

How come we haven't heard anything more about Pulte's rip-off of $900 million from the taxpayer? Shouldn't Goodman follow-up on that?