Petition drives — should journalists sign?

I've got enough problems with people thinking I like Podunk East more than Podunk West. I'll be damned if I'll have my name being associated in any way, shape or form with a politician!

 

We all know you love Podunk East and West both more than Podunk South. You never give the Southies the coverage they deserve. Those kids work hard, you know.

 

The problem is, this ethics policy is only a relatively recent thing with Gannett (maybe five years ago or so?).

I, as well as thousands of other employees, were already working there when the policy was instituted. Threatening to fire people if they don't sign away their Constitutional rights is coersion, not to mention, if an employee really wanted to contest it in court, they could claim they signed it under durress (of losing their livelihood if they didn't).

Courts don't always look at durress very kindly, although of course, it depends on the court.

It's not quite a matter of someone being told about the policy before being hired, and agreeing to it as part of the negotiations. For me and others, it basically amounted to a change in the employer/employee agreement, without a mutual negotiation.

Not to mention, as I pointed out on the other thread, if you really wanted to be technical, signing a petition should actually be seen as legal under the ethical rules. One of the first listings in the rules is that the paper will uphold the public's right to the First Amendment. An employee is a member of the public. Therefore, the paper upholds the employee's right to petition their government for grievances.