Natalie Monroe - Blog Ethics

The line between free speech and slander is becoming more blurred as time passes. Which raises the question, where does the line begin and end. Straubhaar, J., & LaRose, R. (2010 p 474) reference to consumer ethics. Because there are not many laws and regulations that governs what is said online, we have to go by the notion that “we hope that the individual ethics will prevail.” Meaning that we have to have a certain amount of faith in the people that are online. As we know ethics vary throughout cultures and individuals themselves, and as the professional and personal line integrates, “media audiences face ethical dilemmas of their own as they get involved in providing content to the internet (Straubhaar, J., & LaRose, R. (2010 p 474).”

One example of the blur of freedom of speech vs. slander is with the recent case of Natalie Monroe. This was a teacher at Central Bucks East high school who published a series of online rants on her blog which she describes her students as “lazy whiners” and in one post says "Kids! They are disobedient, disrespectful oafs. Noisy, crazy, sloppy, lazy LOAFERS. (USAToday.com)"

While many parents were outraged by finding this out, there was not much to do about it. In fact, others were praising her for speaking thoughts that they had themselves about today's kids. The school suspended her with pay while she is investigated, but it is raising the question of the boundaries of free speech. In her blog she did not identify her school or any of the students names. In addition, many of her blog entries had nothing to do with the school, and were merely thoughts about other topics. So without a precedent to follow from the school, what course should we take? Internet blogs are a new form of self expression, who what protections do their free speech deserve? What is the line between that and defamation.

According to (Straubhaar, J., & LaRose, R. (2010 p 480) “the first amendment was originally framed to densuer the freedom of the press, but that is not an absolute freedom” The book also explains that he lack of laws governing this type of medium can only be swayed by publizing bad judgement, like that of this teacher, in hopes of creating a moral code that is generally accepted among the public (Straubhaar, J., & LaRose, R. (2010 p 475).

 Click here for the full article published by USA Today.
 Should this teacher be protected by free speech? How far should that protection go with regard to blogs? Do you disagree with what she said, or how she said it? I want your thoughts!

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