HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - A reporter at a Huntsville television station has been fired for what she said was a humorous look at her job on her personal blog.

Shea Allen, a former reporter for WAAY-31 TV in Huntsville, was fired over posts made on her personal blog. Her situation has made national news. (Contributed by Shea Allen)

Shea Allen, a special investigations reporter at WAAY-TV Channel 31, told The Huntsville Times/al.com today that the blog post - in which, among other things, she claimed to have "gone bra-less" during on-air appearances - has drawn national attention.

It's not the sort of attention she wanted, however.

"I do not want to be a joke," Allen said. "I am a journalist through and through. I believe in what I do. I believe that as a journalist, I should be a watchdog. I should be a protector of people's rights.

"I never got into this to be the pretty girl on TV. I got into this because I wanted a job that I loved and a job where I felt like I was making a difference. And I had found it."

Allen said she posted the blog - titled "Confessions of a Red-Headed Reporter" - on Tuesday night after work. Station management called her into a meeting about the blog on Friday morning, Allen said, and she was terminated.

A voice message left by The Times/al.com for Keith Lowhorne, news director at Channel 31, has not been returned.

The blog listed 10 "confessions" about her job with the prelude, "I hope it makes you laugh." Among the items listed:

A screen grab of Shea Allen's blog that she said led to her termination as a reporter at WAAY-TV Channel 31.

"I've gone bra-less during a live broadcast and no one was the wiser."

"My best sources are the ones who secretly have a crush on me."

"If you ramble and I deem you unnecessary for my story, I'll stop recording but let you think otherwise."

Asked if there was one particular aspect of the blog that drew the objection of station management, Allen said the blog as a whole but also said the line about taking naps in the news car was "The one point they harped on the most."

The blog has been widely-circulated on the Internet today. Allen said she has gotten calls from the "Today" show as well as "Inside Edition" about the blog and her subsequent firing. She also said she has about six radio interviews lined up as well as the story has gained more traction.

"I never imagined in a million years that this would get me in trouble," she said.

Allen came to Channel 31 in October 2011 for her first on-camera job after working for two television stations in Atlanta.

Asked about any regrets over the blog, Allen said, "I didn't want to lose my job, that's for sure. I never thought it was going to make me lose my job. It was meant as Overheard in the Newsroom, just a funny thing, making fun of the subtle nuances of my job.

"Now I sort of look at it as sort of, OK, there is such this gray area with social media. On the one hand, management wants you to exploit every social media site you possibly can, put as much content out there, drive to the web, drive to the web. And then on the other hand, I've done something in my personal time on the web, a personally designated space and I've been terminated for it. I fight for people's rights to have freedom of expression. That's supposed to be what a journalist does. Now, my rights I feel like have been compromised a little bit."

Allen said her future plans are uncertain at this point.

"I had the ACLU call me this morning," she said. "People ask if I'm going to sue. I couldn't afford a lawyer even if I wanted to. I don't have any ill will toward that station. I respect my colleagues. I don't agree with management's decision. I just want to be a reporter."

She also expressed appreciation for the support of her co-workers.

"What made me feel much better about things," Allen said, "is I had at least a dozen co-workers call me outraged, talking about the station had shot themselves in the foot doing this, how I didn't deserve it, what happened to a suspension or there should be steps in the disciplinary process. Not an immediate termination."