Privacy

Check out the results of the poll on the right of this page. While this is an admittedly small sample and unscientific, the results kind of blew me away.

We talked about protecting your privacy after that poor Arkansas anchor met her untimely death, but I'm convinced it is now more important that ever.

Before the Internet and station websites existed, people would occasionally send a weird letter or make a strange phone call. But now, you guys are really making it way too easy for those who might seek to do you harm.

There's simply too much information out there that is available to anyone.

Anytime I get a new client, the first thing I do is google them. I want to make sure there isn't anything out there that might hurt their chances at getting a job. I've noted that almost all young people have a personal page, which features everything from pictures to inner thoughts. You might as well just draw the bad guys a map.

Delete it all. Now.

The creeps out there can be real detectives when they target someone to stalk. They can find out the places you like to hang out, likes and dislikes, and the big one, your marital status. Maybe it's time for all the single women out there to include a fake husband (who is a former NFL linebacker) on all station bios.

Having a personal page does nothing for your career, and nothing for your personal life. If you want to stay in contact with friends, you can call or email. They can do the same. If a News Director needs to find you, he won't do it through a personal page.

Delete it all. Now.

As for your station bio, keep it very simple. Where you went to school, where you worked, not much else.

Make it hard for the people who might want to do you harm to find out more about you.