BBC summarises social media rules as ‘Don't do anything stupid’ in report
In the age of social media, where one bad tweet can ruin a career, it is no wonder that the BBC has decided to publish some rules on what staff can and cannot do on social media – both on professional and personal sites. The report sums up these rules in one simple sentence: ‘Don’t do anything stupid.’
It was BBC News’s social media editor, Chris Hamilton, who made the guidance public on his blog. He said: “There are a few rules but it's mainly suggestions, reminders, best practice and housekeeping. The aim is to help people get the best out of social networks and tools, working within the BBC's editorial values that are at the core of our journalism.”
Split into three sections, the guidance looks at personal activity, activity for core news and activity of reporters/editors as part of BBC output.
It is the personal section that tells workers not to do anything stupid. The section goes on to explain what would come under this category: don’t bring the corporation into disrepute; don’t criticise colleagues; discuss with your line manager if you want to start a blog that may lead to conflicts of interest.
The section also tells staff: “Remember that even though you are acting in your own personal capacity, you are on show to your friends and anyone else who sees what you write, as a representative of the BBC. If you are editorial staff, it doesn't make much difference whether or not you identify yourself as someone who works for the BBC.”
The report goes on to say that all breaking news items that are going to go on any form of social media network has to be read over by someone else before being posted in case it could “land you, or the BBC, in trouble.”
On the subject of being an official BBC tweeter as an editor or reporter, the guidance sheet says: “all tweets need to be consistent with this, reflecting and focusing on areas relevant to the role or specialism, and avoiding personal interests or unrelated issues.”
The guidance comes shortly after it was suggested the BBC could attempt to add a clause to contracts to make sure workers or actors did not release confidential information through tweets. The BBC had said they would not ban anyone from Twitter, and encourage people involved at the corporation to tweet as long as they don’t break confidentiality rules.