Network World gives Mike Rothman the boot

Mike Rothman, of Security-Incite fame, is irascible and irritating , but if you ask him his opinion, he'll give it to you without sugar coating.  He speaks his mind freely, which has been one of the many things I respect about him.  He doesn't hold back, calls things as he sees them and is willing to take the hit when he's wrong.  And all of these are things that got him in trouble with his editors at NetworkWorld.

In the nine months I've been blogging for Computerworld, my editors haven't told me one time what I can or can't write about on the site, let alone comment on anything I've written on my own blog.  They trust in me to be self-regulating enough to know what's appropriate for their audience and know that what I write on my blog is my opinion and doesn't affect my writing for them.  I probably wouldn't have criticized Computerworld as directly as Mike took on NetworkWorld, but that's Mike's personality.   I value his opinions more because I know he's not going to pull his punches, no matter what the subject or who's the target.

It's too bad that NetworkWorld couldn't take his criticism as constructive and learn from it.  We live in the days and by the rules of the blogosphere; there's little or nothing that's going to get you more negative press than trying to silence a blogger, even if the blogger is already writing bad things about you.  Or maybe especially if the blogger is criticizing you.  If they'd asked Mike nicely not to write negative reviews of NetworkWorld in the future, he probably would have said no, but it wouldn't have been a big deal.  But by cutting him off for his critique, they've made the whole thing news.  Somehow I don't think that's really what they wanted.

I'm not Mike Rothman, and I doubt I'll ever write anything that's likely to get me fired (unless it's this entry, that is), but I hope I can emulate Mike in writing what I believe and sticking to it no matter what others might think.  My editors here at Computerworld have never been anything but supportive, a relationship I hope to continue for a long time to come.  Mike made the right decision when he wrote his criticism of the Enterprise All-Star feature; it was his opinion, stated clearly and with little bias for or against NetworkWorld.  He could have written a glowing review of the feature, but where would the value have been in that?  It would have rung hollow and we would know it wasn't really what he believes.  I'm sorry it cost Mike his position at NetworkWorld and will cost NetworkWorld a lot of negative publicity.  I just hope NetworkWorld learns a little about living in the Web 2.0 world and the blogosphere.

Don't change, Mike Rothman.  Your honesty is what I value most about you.