Breaking news in 2012 the BBC way
From the BBC’s The Editors’ blog:
… When they have some breaking news, an exclusive or any kind of urgent update on a story, they must get written copy into our newsroom system as quickly as possible, so that it can be seen and shared by everyone – both the news desks which deploy our staff and resources (like TV trucks) as well as television, radio and online production teams.
So what about Twitter, the micro-blogging site where millions of people, including many of our journalists, communicate via short bursts of text?
…
We’re fortunate to have a technology that allows our journalists to transmit text simultaneously to our newsroom systems and to their own Twitter accounts.
But we’ve been clear that our first priority remains ensuring that important information reaches BBC colleagues, and thus all our audiences, as quickly as possible – and certainly not after it reaches Twitter.
The Beeb can do what it likes, I suppose, but it shows the two sides of being a large news organization: A lack of nimbleness on one hand, but better technology on the other.
Update
Seems the BBC felt misunderstood. It posted an update on Feb. 9:
UPDATE 9 February 1330 GMT
To clarify any misconceptions, this guidance isn’t about telling BBC journalists not to break stories on Twitter.
It’s about making sure stories are broken as quickly and efficiently as possible to our large audiences on a wide range of platforms – Twitter, other social networks, our own website, continuous TV and radio news channels, TV and radio bulletins and programmes across several networks.
Hey, it’s a difference of seconds!, the BBC said about its “us first rule.”
If you want breaking news from the Beeb, follow @BBCbreaking on Twitter.