CNN - Still shutting down their blogging journalists

In 2003, CNN employee, Kevin Sites, started a blog which provided readers with a personal commentary on his reports from Iraq.

On 21 March 2003 CNN asked him to stop blogging. A spokesperson claimed that Sites’ should be fully engaged filing television reports. Sites agreed to stop blogging explaining that he had little choice but to comply - CNN were paying his cheques and had sent him to Iraq.

At the time, this was seen in the blogosphere as an assault on blogs by the mainstream media.

Today, CNN is still getting rid of its blogging journalists. Chez Pazienza, a producer, who has a popular blog at Deux Ex Malcontent was fired last week for his blog posts.

He claims he was fired because he had not had his writing vetted by CNN in accordance with the employee handbook.

Needless to say he doesn't seem too happy about the state of television news and fires a warning shot to the mainstream media:

"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."

You can read Chez's version of events here

I've emailed CNN to (hopefully) get their take on this.