Complaint and FOI responses 04/01/12

Complaint response received 09/01/12:

Reference CAS-1226295-676LXX

Thank you for contacting us.

I understand you are unhappy at being blocked from Jeremy Vine's Twitter feed.

However, the Twitter account in question is a personal account and it is neither officially linked to, nor does it represent the views of, the BBC.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact us.

Kind Regards
Txxxx Hxxxxx
BBC Complaints
www.bbc.co.uk/complaints


Response sent:

Thank you for your reply on this matter in which you state: "However, the Twitter account in question is a personal account and it is neither officially linked to, nor does it represent the views of, the BBC.".

I contest your viewpoint that his account is "personal" on two counts:
 - Mr Vine's Twitter account is promoted heavily on his programme and his show web page.
 - The BBC has issued two sets of guidelines (http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/page/guidance-blogs-personal-full#social-networking-sites and http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/14_07_11_news_official_tweeter_guidance.pdf) in which instruction is given on to how these so-called "personal" accounts are to be used. If these accounts were not under some kind of BBC control then there would be no need to issue these guidelines.

Vanessa Feltz has two Twitter accounts: @vanessafeltz appears to be her personal account, but @vanessaonair appears to be an official account where listeners are encouraged to "Tweet Vanessa on the big talking points every weekday morning from 9 on BBC London 94.9." in EXACTLY the same way as Mr Vine uses his Twitter account for his programme. In addition, she has a link to @vanessaonair on her show web page, not her personal account.

My original complaint still stands, but I would like to extend it to include
 - Mr Vine is using a "personal" account in an "official" role to promote and comment on his programme
 - Mr Vine continually encourages his listeners to follow his "personal" Twitter feed on-air.
 - Mr Vine's "personal" Twitter feed is promoted on his programme web page.


And the usual FOI response received 09/01/12:


Freedom of Information request – RFI201200xx

Thank you for your request to the BBC of 4th January, seeking the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Jeremy Vine’s twitter account is personal to him and he runs the account. The BBC doesn’t
therefore hold any information about how it is managed or the number of followers.

If the account was owned by his show then the information you have requested would be
excluded from the Act because it is held for the purposes of ‘journalism, art or literature.’ The
BBC is therefore not obliged to provide this information to you and will not be doing so on this
occasion. Part VI of Schedule 1 to FOIA provides that information held by the BBC and the other public service broadcasters is only covered by the Act if it is held for ‘purposes other than those of journalism, art or literature”. The BBC is not required to supply information held for the purposes of creating the BBC’s output or information that supports and is closely associated with these creative activities.