On Friday, The New York Times sent out new guidelines to the newsroom advising reporters to watch what they say on social media.

“Many of our journalists are influential voices on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other platforms,” the letter states. “But we also need to make sure that we are engaging responsibly on social media, in line with the values of our newsroom.”

The reporters were warned that what they say on social media could be perceived as bias:

But social media presents potential risks for The Times. If our journalists are perceived as biased or if they engage in editorializing on social media, that can undercut the credibility of the entire newsroom.

We’ve always made clear that newsroom employees should avoid posting anything on social media that damages our reputation for neutrality and fairness. This memo offers more detailed guidelines.

What’s funny is that NYT reporters don’t just editorialize on Twitter, they do so in their reporting, but we don't see the editors mention that! It appears as though The Times prefers to keep its bias in-house and not splattered all over the Internet.

And the rules are very specific:

• In social media posts, our journalists must not express partisan opinions, promote political views, endorse candidates, make offensive comments or do anything else that undercuts The Times’s journalistic reputation.
• Our journalists should be especially mindful of appearing to take sides on issues that The Times is seeking to cover objectively.

Yeah, it’s really too bad these rules don’t apply to the newsdesks!

It would appear that the NYT is scrambling, especially after James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas uncovered one of its employees engaging in social media tactics that undermine the very principles the NYT claims to be extolling. That’s what journalism is supposed to do! The Times could learn a lot from O’Keefe’s practices.

After The Times published the updated policy, a national reporter for The Washington Post jumped on Twitter to invite any disgruntled employees to apply at his place of employment, where apparently they're fine with employees taking Left turns all over the web:

But this is what that actually means: