Fired over 140 Characters!

Do you know who Octavia Nasr is? I didn’t before 10 days ago. She was CNN’s senior editor of Mideast affairs and a 20-year veteran employee who recently lost her job over a tweet.

A highly accomplished journalist, Nasr, was one of the leaders integrating journalism and social media at CNN. A little over a week ago Nasr posted a tweet that read, “Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah.. One of Hezbollah’s giants I respect a lot..” Fadlallah was a Shiite cleric who defended women’s rights, a scarce voice in a traditional, Islamic country. At one time he served as a major spiritual leader of the militant group Hezbollah.

I’m not writing about this story because of the Middle Eastern politics involved. It’s clearly a highly sensitive topic and one that can be divisive which is not my intention. I am writing about this for three reasons – personal branding, putting personal brand before corporate brand and social media.

On personal brand – Nasr’s abrupt exit from CNN has catapulted her brand. All the major news organizations made her name and story a headline. Is her brand tarnished? Perhaps to some, but to others she has become known. Her biggest challenge will be to explain her tweet to those who have very strong emotional feelings towards this issue. Nasr certainly doesn’t want to be known as the CNN journalist who was a supporter of a terrorist leader.

One major mistake that Nasr made was to tweet about her personal feelings on her CNN branded Twitter page. She used her Twitter account for professional and personal tweets. (See CNN’s social media policy in the right hand margin under Rachel Recommends.) With the integration of social media into journalism our journalists are much more visible. But, social media is also changing journalism – it’s making it faster, more personal and in some ways less objective.

Faster because technology means the news can go viral in seconds. It’s more personal because those that effectively “humanize the web” attract more followers and readers. Journalism is less objective – as a result of attracting followers and “humanizing the web,” we want to know more about our journalists and their opinions. Since journalists want to keep us as followers, many write to the audience rather than for the audience. Back in the day when I learned about journalism and worked as a journalist – your story had to be objective – but today those that make the most “noise” are those whose opinions are known.

At the end of the day CNN is a business where all things come down to capital. And as one great social media mind and fellow Third Triber mentioned to me there was a cost to keep Nasr and a cost to fire her.

A final thought – if what you say in 140 characters can be misconstrued – then write a blog post about it – don’t tweet it.

To read Nasr’s explanation behind her tweet click here. (Thanks to @DavidJGarcia who sent me the link).

Commercial Break
By William Arruda

What can personal branders learn from TV advertisements? Take a break and take a peak.

Target: Hello – Goodbuy

I love this commercial because: I love every Target ad. They are always on-brand – demonstrating their creativity and touting their value. They are consistent. I love the play on words with the Beattles’ song and the simplicity of the message.

This ad and YOUR personal brand: Be consistent. Communicate your message clearly and frequently. When it is crystal clear, those around you will be able to communicate it on your behalf.

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Course: The next Reach Personal Branding Certification Program begins in September. Secure your space today, and get $250 off with the CPBSEARLY coupon code before August 24, 2010.

When: 12 Tuesdays at 11 AM Eastern Time, Sep. 7 – Nov. 23 with three weeks off.

Description: The Reach Personal Branding methodology is a comprehensive, three-step process for uncovering, communicating and nurturing your personal brand. It is the result of 20 years’ corporate branding expertise applied to the new world of work and the current challenges faced by entrepreneurs, small business owners, executives, professionals and job seekers.

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About the Facilitator: William Arruda’s co-author, Kirsten Dixson of Career Distinction: Stand Out By Building Your Brand will be the program facilitator.

A previous participant had this to say about Kirsten, “Kirsten will help you think clearer, faster, and farther—driving results at the level of image and substance, ultimately resulting in more keener messaging, product/service differentiation, and market share.”

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CEO, Agilestar, Inc. and President, Center for Relationship, Silicon Valley

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Contact Kirsten Dixson with any questions at kirsten at kirstendixson dot com or 1 212 537 9120 ext. 3.