Comments on: Q: Who owns a journalist’s Twitter account? A: The users

By: From LauraK to NormanS « The Richard Reynolds Blog

From LauraK to NormanS « The Richard Reynolds Blog — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 22:50:42 +0000

[...] debate ranged over who owns Twitter accounts, the blending of professional and personal, the role of “users”, and how new it is as an issue at all. Even the front page of the Financial Times got in on the [...]

By: Rushfit

Rushfit — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:26:36 +0000

This is a nice little grey area. I can’t get around the fact that “BBS” is in the name, and is probably a standard BBC has created for their reporters’ twitter names. I know that isn’t something that may be held in court, but you never know.

By: Who owns your social media account? | Prakkypedia

Who owns your social media account? | Prakkypedia — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 08:37:18 +0000

[...] Online Journalism Blog captured some of the debate. And similar questions were raised here when high-profile Australian [...]

By: TomP

TomP — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 16:17:33 +0000

What is fair to both parties, who both have an investment in the ID? If only Twitter would allow cloning an ID, both parties could rename and go their separate ways with no ill feelings. Users could follow or unfollow as it pleased them.

By: John

John — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 23:24:41 +0000

Tom,
Why wouldn’t the reporter own it in this case? She isn’t hiding the fact she now works for someone else. If her followers want to follow the current BBC political editor then it’s very simple for them to do so.

By: S Howells

S Howells — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 06:55:57 +0000

Ownership was looked at recently by the High Court. “Consumer rights journalist Martin Lewis has won a High Court case protecting his ‘Money Saving Expert’ trade mark.”

http://www.out-law.com/page-12114

If you apply this ruling to Laura Kuenssberg and all other high profile journalists appearing in the media, she needs to trademark a tag line that she is always introduced by. She could be Laura Kuenssberg business news expert. This branding would be displayed on all her platforms. The High Court has ruled that in Lewis’ case the trademark money saving expert does not belong to the BBC or ITV or any media platform where it has appeared but to Lewis. Kuenssberg then develops a commercial business around her trademark “business news expert” like Lewis who owns a commercial business “moneysavingexpert” which the High Court describes as “advisory services relating to financial matters provided via an internet website”. This gives media companies the option to pay journalists by plugging their brand name businesses and not paying them a salary. Lewis is resident expert on BBC programmes including BBC Watchdog, BBC Radio 2 Jeremy Vine Show and BBC Radio 5 Live Shelagh Fogarty and none of these appearances cost the BBC a penny. He is paid by his trademark being broadcast whenever he appears.

By: Dan Thornton

Dan Thornton — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 22:09:35 +0000

I have to agree – mainly because great minds think alike, and my first tweet this morning was pretty similar:

‘*sigh* You know who can claim ownership of a journalists’s Twitter followers? The followers themselves – noone else. Settled? Good.’

If a company has a social media policy which includes the use of social networks for official company business and personal business, then they have a right to complain or take action. If not, then they don’t.

And regardless of what happens, if you’re following someone for BBC news, and they move to ITV, there’s a good chance you’ll unfollow them at some point, and find a different BBC feed, unless you’re a fan of them personally.

By: Paul Bradshaw

Paul Bradshaw — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:49:42 +0000

All good points (especially about how she used the account) – I wasn’t really speaking about Laura specifically but more the discourses around who owns these accounts.

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:29:19 +0000

In short, if you want to own your account, then OWN it! Don’t let your employer take it over as their own by you not using it in the way in which it was intended.

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:28:01 +0000

Nice blog and I agree on the point that it’s the relationships that are important in social media…don’t think many people read my blog properly as many are misrepresenting my view!

However, if a journalist’s feed is only ever used as a broadcast channel for their employer and is labelled an ‘official account’, things become less clear.

If Laura had used her account like Robert Peston and interacted with others, then fine, but she didn’t. Hence the issue…