The New York Times has decided to discipline Andrew Goldman, the writer of the “Talk” feature in the Times Magazine, for his Twitter outburst last week. Goldman had drawn criticism for lashing out at a female author when she suggested his material was sexist. Capital New York received an email from the magazine’s editor, Hugo Lindgren, that stated Goldman will keep his job at the Times Magazine, but will be suspended for four weeks.

The decision to take Goldman to task is timely, considering the paper’s standards editor — Philip Corbett — just sent out a memo reminding staffers of the company’s social media guidelines.

In the note — available in full on the public editor’s blog — there is a section mentioning freelancers:

As with all of our ethics guidelines, these principles also apply to freelancers in connection with their work for The Times. Readers do not distinguish among bylines, and regular contributors in particular are closely associated with The Times. Editors have a responsibility to ensure that freelancers understand their obligation to protect The Times’s reputation.