BBC to curb spoiler-ridden Tweets from stars and writers
BBC’s head-honchos are considering issuing guidelines on how their writers and acting talent should use the micro-blogging service Twitter, and potentially putting a ban on its usage, following a series of revealing tweets hit the social network.
Numerous leaks have included Thick of It creator Armando Iannucci revaling details on the next series ahead of time, Sophie Ellis Bextor revealing that she was to feature alongside Sting on Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s Life’s Too Short and Stephen Mangan announcing that a second series of Dirk Gently had been commissioned.
Now BBC contracts may explicitly state what can and cannot be said on Twitter.
“There’s no doubt that Twitter is a popular communications phenomenon but it can also be quite disruptive if artists tweet about an appearance on a show or announce a new commission before the broadcaster is ready to go with the story.” said an anonymous BBC Vision employee to the Guardian.
“Broadcasters can have a number of reasons for wanting to delay press announcements, such as the deal not being done or contracts not being signed or, indeed, the broadcaster wanting to make a big splash with a great story at a particularly opportune moment. A random tweet can rob an artist of his or her potentially much louder fanfare.”
The BBC already currently issues formal guidelines to its staff on the appropriate use of Facebook pages in an attempt to keep Zuckerberg’s network free of spoilers and damaging leaks.
Via: The Guardian
