UK press watchdog to regulate press Twitter feeds but no plans for it in Ireland

The body wants each newspaper in the UK to draw up a Twitter policy but there are no plans to do a similar thing in Ireland according to the Press Council.

THE TWITTER FEEDS of newspapers and their reporters in the UK are expected to be brought under the regulation of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), the industry’s watchdog, later this year – but there are no plans to do the same in Ireland.

The Guardian reports that the PCC believes that some postings on Twitter are effectively part of a newspaper’s editorial product.

The body wants each newspaper to develop a Twitter policy to tell its reporters which accounts are considered part of its editorial product and which are not.

The official feeds of newspapers such as @telegraphnews or @guardiannews will almost certainly be regulated however that principle could be extended to cover reporters’ accounts.

When contacted by TheJournal.ie today a spokesperson for the Press Council of Ireland said that the issue of regulating Twitter feeds of Irish newspapers and journalists “had not come up”.

Should journalists personal Twitter accounts come under Press Council of Ireland guidelines?

Poll Results:

No (124)

Yes (37)