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Thread: federal workers not talking

  1. #1
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    federal workers not talking

    https://www.outsideonline.com/238492...l5DKvaEXJZXOBA



    This is a very interesting article, it shows that besides the politics of the administration there is something very different about what is happening right now .

  2. #2
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Any organization I have ever worked in requires media contacts to be made with the organization’s public relations officer.
    It is reasonable and common for a designated point person to represent the organization in problematic issues such as “Dead Yosemite Hiker!”

    If the designated media officer didnt return his call, well, he doesnt get information. And yes, it is entirely possible that media officer is furloughed. That is what a furlough is, people are not at work.

    When employed I wouldnt want to represent my organization in sensitive matters, and I was not employed by the feds during Trump’s administration or diring a furlough.

    Zoe, if there was a child death on your school premises during your program, would you chatter to reporters about it? Are you authorized to do that? What if the child death happened in your building but not under your supervision? In this latter case you dont have direct facts, only heresay. Are you going to enlighten a reporter about that sad event?

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    Senior Member jp1's Avatar
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    While it's fairly typical for private employers to set regulations surrounding talking to the media and around social media postings regarding the employer, I suspect that someone who gets fired from a government job for talking about the government shutdown or the dead person at Yosemite or anything else, for that matter, would probably have a winning 1st amendment case should they choose to sue the government. The government doesn't get to squash free speech without an extremely valid reason. And because it may make the government look bad is not a valid reason.

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    When I started teaching in public schools in California in 1985, we were told that as long as we prefaced any comments with the phrase, "in my opinion" we were well within our rights and there would be no problems. By 2010, we were strongly cautioned not to speak of "anything that might be(come) controversial." In 2015 they began training teachers to "outsource (their) comments" which meant to find a trusted person not connected in any way with school, with whom to share opinions and frustrations. This current action is seen by the teachers' union as a gag order and is continually challenged. It has also created an atmosphere of fear and distrust, igniting many cases of documented PTSD, as well as causing many teachers to simply leave the profession, whether or not they were eligible for retirement.

    Not good, in my opinion!

  5. #5
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    Trump is acting like a dictator and probably would fire someone.

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    I have been in the position to have things happen in my programs that I do not talk directly to parents about, and certainly there are rules around talking to the media about incidents. I support that, saves me headaches as well! I recall one time suggesting a parent listen to the rumors that would be circulating quickly because she would not stop pressuring me to give her more information than was appropriate. So maybe the death is not the best example in the article.

    I think what was relevant when I read this article was that there was a large change in about the last year in how the media has been able to get information and specifically with federal workers. It seems the standard is that federal workers have felt comfortable sharing what is going on as part of the free press, and how that affects the public they serve

  7. #7
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    It doesn’t seem like affected feds aren’t talking to me. Everybody from the FBI Director on down have been weighing in. NPR alone seems like a font of heartrending testimony.

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