Wired.com is reporting that an AP reporter has been disciplined for criticizing the management of McClatchy Co. on his Facebook page. McClatchy’s stock plummeted following its 2006 acquisition of San Jose-based Knight Ridder.
“It seems like the ones who orchestrated the whole mess should be losing their jobs or getting pushed into smaller quarters,” Philadelphia-based Richard Richtmyer wrote on May 28. “But they aren’t.”
McClatchy is a member of the AP, which is a cooperative owned by newspapers. The message could only be seen by Richtmyer’s 51 “friends,” a term Facebook uses for users who are invited to view a particular member’s home page.
As Wired notes, the Guild is upset and is asking AP to reverse Richtmyer’s reprimand.