diff --git a/blog.php b/blog.php
index 53e1c094..ef5bfe76 100644
--- a/blog.php
+++ b/blog.php
@@ -42,8 +42,9 @@ include_once('header.php') ?>
             <div class="col-lg-8">
                 <?php
                 // Query to retrieve data from blogs table
+                $status = 'published';
                 $stmt = $conn->prepare("SELECT blog_id, title, date, category, image, description, author, members_only, link FROM blogs WHERE status = ? ORDER BY date DESC");
-                $stmt->bind_param("s", $status = 'published');
+                $stmt->bind_param("s", $status);
                 $stmt->execute();
                 $result = $stmt->get_result();