Have You Ever Been Fired For Freelancing?

A veteran reporter of the Oregonian got canned last week for moonlighting.

Lisa Grace Lednicer, who had been at the Oregonian for 12 years, was let go because she co-wrote an article for Glamour about Diane Downs' mystery daughter. (Downs is the notorious Oregon mother who was charged with shooting her children in 1983.)

Now, Ed is no stranger to freelancing on the side. Almost all of Ed's friends have done it.
And it's clear why: moonlighting is a great way to make some extra money while improving your portfolio and giving you more diverse clips. He even gave you insider tips about how to freelance (and still keep your day job).

But of course, there's a catch. Some editors have had to write under a pseudonym in fear of getting fired, while others never clocked in overtime for fear of their bosses finding out.

It turns out that Lisa broke rule number two and nine: never write about the same topic as you're paid to write about and if at all unsure, clear it with your higher-ups first.

Oregonian Editor Peter Bhatia said this afternoon the Downs piece was “a story of significant interest to the newspaper’s readers, and it should have been run past us before Lisa took the assignment.”

Ed wishes Lisa all the best, but maybe this is all for the better. One Edster was able to parlay getting fired into a sweet new job. And we're guessing Lisa weighed the odds and figured national exposure in a major women's magazine was worth the potential job loss.

What do you think, Edsters? Was her editor right for firing her? How did you bounce back after getting fired? Feel free to share some moonlighting tips too!