The BBC twitstorm
It started with a tweet.
Hi folks, due to new BBC Twitter guidelines, responding to individuals and RTs can no longer happen.
— Liam McLeod (@BBCLiamMcLeod) May 2, 2012
Interesting. This quickly caught the interest of the Twitterati...
Think it's strange, if true, that the PUBLIC broadcaster that is the BBC want to stop employees replying on Twitter. Counter-productive...?
— Adam Mills (@AdamMillsUK) May 2, 2012
...and "BBC Twitter" even started trending. Which caught the eye of the BBC's social media editor for BBC News:
So "BBC Twitter" trending? We encourage tweeting, replying, retweeting. News guidance is unchanged: bbc.co.uk/blogs/theedito…
— Chris Hamilton (@chrishams) May 2, 2012
... Sophie Brendel ("Head of Digital Communications" at the BBC) clarified:
Central BBC news Twitter guidance is unchanged. Retweets & replies are encouraged. Our guidelines are here: bbc.in/rhkfQr
— Sophie Brendel (@sophiebr) May 2, 2012
... with BBC Radio's Jem Stone also responding:
@AdamMillsUK No new BBC guidance. Retweets/replies are actively encouraged across the many BBC radio/music accounts I look after + elsewhere
— Jem Stone (@JemStone) May 2, 2012
So. What's the original tweet about? BBC London's Investigations Producer must have investigated:
Some people mistaking 'new BBC guidelines' for local advice, on what appear to be specific issues (eg. Rangers). Totally different.
— Jane Bradley (@jane__bradley) May 2, 2012
Glad that's all cleared up then; although, why Liam McLeod hasn't clarified his comments, we're not entirely sure. If, indeed, it is a local BBC Scotland policy (apparently "about Rangers"), it might be a good idea to make that clear - assuming he's seen the hundreds of retweets he's gained. But then, a cursory look at his timeline appears to show that he doesn't quite understand Twitter isn't a shouty broadcast medium anyway - his tweets are all headlines from sports stories he's working on, with no attempt to engage the audience (no replies and only one retweet in the last two weeks - retweeting sporting legend, er, Donald Trump).
Let's leave the last word in this saga to BBC Radio 4 Today Programme presenter Justin Webb:
I am not aware of new BBC guidelines on Twitter but I want to make it clear I agree with them (like that Australian MP). Hope this helps.
— justin webb (@JustinOnWeb) May 2, 2012
It does, greatly. Good. Let's move on, shall we?
Radio
Fancy an evening with Jay Crawford?
Spotify has a new competitor: Rdio. It launched this morning, according to GigaOm. The general consensus seems to be that Spotify has deeper listings, but Rdio is better at getting new releases on board, says Bobbie Johnson. Oh, and Spotify now has an iPad app, mentions BitterWallet.
In Australia, there's a new radio station - Smooth. We've heard this somewhere before, we think. Launched by, among others, Global/Virgin's Paul Jackson, it's an AC format. dmg have referenced other markets where AC formats such as SmoothFM are highly successful: Magic in London, Coast FM Auckland and Lite FM in New York each of which are ranked either first or second in those markets, says the Australian Radio Today: Smooth UK not getting a mention, then. Anyway, UTV's Jimmy Buckland isn't that impressed:
Sad to see UK radio companies failing to control overseas exploitation of brands they've built up in the UK bit.ly/IohXyh
— Jimmy Buckland (@Jimmy_Buckland) May 3, 2012
Hamish and Andy are coming back to the UK, reports the Australian RadioInfo. Will Absolute take their show again?
Newspapers
The Daily Mail and total hypocrisy. Two things that appear to live together, according to the Media Blog, who take a screenshot of the Mail's website and compare it to their "block online porn" campaign.
John Slattery has a thought about empowering reporters as whistle-blowers to help keep press standards up.
We've mentioned before how much we enjoy the Reuters photography blog, and today's pictures of the sole inhabitant of an island just off Ireland are no exception.
The Boston Globe has a small style-guide change: no more "today, tomorrow, yesterday" in their pieces: now it's all "Thursday, Friday, Wednesday". An official style change, which makes sense in the new world of the internet.