Read all about it! Work blogs in the tabloids

Two particular newspaper articles of note. First of all, The Sun claims to "have discovered that the internet is awash with blogging policemen, teachers, nurses and traffic wardens who regularly post their gripes on the internet." Corinne Abrams continues by claiming that "[s]ome of the blogs unveil shocking revelations about the employees' working lives and the practices of their employers, while others simply note down interesting anecdotes." The article - The professional bloggers - goes on to refer to the work of NHS Confidential, Blackboard Jungle, Walking the streets, The Special Constable's blog, and, Diary of a criminal solicitor. "Discovered" - I think not. Awash - er, not really. "Shocking revelations" - hardly, i.e. since when has anyone been shocked by the knowledge of crap jobs and crap employers?

The second article - Blogging is more than a fast track to joblessness (Patricia Kitchen, Newsday) - offers a far more balanced account of work-related blogs. Okay, the article refers in great part to my research and views on work-related blogs, but the article is worth viewing most all because it attempts to "broaden the view of workplace blogging beyond just bashing the boss and getting fired." Talking of work-related blogs, here are another 15 I came across over the weekend.

Academic splat - an associate professor of literature
Call Center QA Blues - call centre operator
Confessions of a community college Dean - a veteran of cultural studies seminars in the 1990's moves into academic administration
Czech EFL - an English foreign language teacher letting the Czech check it out
Druss log - works for the Scottish Ambulance Service
Inner space - a final year PhD student with teaching responsibilities
I want to pass my UK Driving test - an inside view of the life of a driving instructor
Injustice anywhere - a Texas public defender rants and raves about criminal justice issues in her great state and country (and whatever else she wants)
Nursie999 - female Scottish nurse
Teach, teach! - a high school English teacher getting use to a new role of Instruction Lead Teacher
That's why they call me "doctor" - thinking about teaching, research, and the quest to find, secure and nurture reciprocal recognition of each other's humanity
The NHS confidential - Views on life from a bog standard NHS nurse, the usual overworked, stressed and constantly questioning kind of nurse that the NHS is full of and losing rapidly if statistics are to be believed!
Thoughts of a cynical professor - an academic restarting a blog after getting close to getting in trouble with her employer
Today's homework - a place to muse, rant, sing, and tell funny stories about life in the public classroom
Wabi my sabi - call centre operator

1 comment:

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