Washington Post v. Tunison [1]

The Washington Post reportedly fired staffer Michael Tunison over profane blog posts on NFL humor blog Kissing Suzy Kolber [2]. Tunison was a regular poster to the blog under the pseudonym "Christmas Ape," and the disciplinary action came soon after he decided to shed his anonymity.

According to Michael David Smith of AOL's "Fan House [3]" sports blog, "Tunison says the Post told him he violated Post standards and discredited the paper by writing a blog post in which he identified himself as a Washington Post writer [4], linked to the paper three times, included a photo of himself drunk (above) and used profanity."

According to Editor & Publisher [5], the official Washington Post Stylebook states the policy that the newspaper must avoid any conflicts of interest, or the appearance of conflict of interest. Staffers are expected not to work for anyone except The Post without permission, and to ensure that their private and professional behavior does not bring discredit to their profession or to The Post.

Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. confirmed to Editor & Publisher that Tunison no longer worked at the paper and had left his job.  He did not specify if Tunison resigned or was fired.