MSNBC staffer fired over Super Bowl commercial tweet

The latest lesson on social media for legacy news org's comes from MSNBC, where a staffer has been fired over a tweet about a Super Bowl ad that included at shot at the political right.

The initial tweet said: "Maybe the right wing will hate it, but everyone else will go awww: the adorable new #Cheerios ad w/ biracial family."

After predictable backlash, MSNBC removed and apologized for the tweet. 

But here's the lesson. The shot at the "right wing" was entirely unnecessary - a common instance where someone trying to be "clever" strays from the straight news value of the story and strays over the line.

Journalists should heed the lessons shared by the New York Times Social News Desk. This @NiemanLab post details lessons learned from the past year of socializing the news, including this core nugget: Straight posts are more effective at generating engagement than "clever" ones.

So, at the end of the day, playing it straight isn't just good journalism, and a good way to keep your job - it's also more effective at engaging the audience.