today, tomorrow, together a new RTÉ for the connected age RTÉ Social Media Guidelines Contents Introduction 2 • Reason for these Guidelines 2 • What Is Meant By Social Media? 2 • Classification of Accounts 2 • Breaches of Guidelines 3 • Obligations and Constraints 3 • Guidelines Updating Procedure 4 Section 1. Set-up and Management of Official RTÉ Branded Social Media Accounts 5 1.1 Editorial Purpose 5 1.2 Roles and Responsibilities 6 1.3 Moderation 7 1.4 RTÉ Branding 8 1.5 Social Media Account Creation 9 1.6 Engagement 9 1.7 Rights Issues and Clearance 11 1.8 Crisis Management 12 1.9 Exit Strategy 13 1.10 Newsletters 13 1.11 Advertising 13 1.12 Children and Young People 13 1.13 How to Deal with Abuse/Trolling 14 1.14 Product Endorsements 14 Section 2. Personal Social Media Accounts of RTÉ Staff and Contractors 15 2.1 What is meant by Hybrid Personal/Personal Account? 15 2.2 Hybrid Personal Accounts (Class 3) 15 2.3 Personal Accounts (Class 4) 15 2.4 Ownership of RTÉ content on personal accounts 15 Section 3. Using External Social Media Platforms 17 3.1 Information gathering and source material 17 Appendices 19 Appendix 1. Social Media Account and Strategy Clearance Form, Classifications 1 and 2 19 Appendix 2. Declaration Form re Class 1, 2 or 3 Account 24 Appendix 3. Social Media and Your Show 25 Appendix 4. RTÉ Branding on Facebook and Twitter 26 Social Media Guidelines Think before you TWEET* Think before you POST* Think before you UPDATE* *can you stand over what you publish? 1 Introduction All RTÉ staff and contributors should be aware of and should abide by the RTÉ Social Media Guidelines. Journalists and other editorial personnel should take care to preserve RTÉ’s editorial integrity in any comments or postings made by them on social media sites, even if these are of a personal or hybrid type. Comments or criticisms on public events, issues or personalities, whether originated or copied/ shared, or whether explicit or implied, which may appear to compromise the editorial independence and impartiality of an RTÉ editorial professional or RTÉ itself are damaging to RTÉ’s interest and public responsibility and should not be engaged in. Social media and broadcasting are Reason for These Guidelines Classifications of Accounts powerful partners. Social media allows These guidelines are meant to assist RTÉ acknowledges four classifications people to enjoy our content in many RTÉ staff and contractors navigate an of account: ways and on many levels. It connects evolving social media landscape. As this us with audiences and is a platform to 1. Official Service Account medium develops we will revisit the develop new communities who share a (e.g. @rtenews; @rteradio1; @rteplayer) guidelines accordingly. common connection: RTÉ. An account which is officially set up, monitored and managed by RTÉ If in doubt about any aspect of the Social media platforms like Twitter guidelines as outlined below please are now considered established contact your line manager in the first platforms to break news stories or to 2. Official Programme Account instance. S/he may then, if appropriate, provide a primary source material (e.g. @drivetimerte; refer you to a member of the Human and, along with Facebook, YouTube @morning_ireland) Resources or Communications teams etc., are commonplace in the sphere of A programme account which is who will clarify any query. On private and public life; social media, officially set up and monitored and occasion you may also be referred to increasingly, is how we and our managed by RTÉ a designated social media specialist audiences keep in contact with friends, within the IBDs. discuss lifestyle and related issues, and 3. Hybrid Personal Use by On-Air/ share content. What Is Meant Editorial Staff (e.g. @miriamocal, @bryansixone) RTÉ encourages its staff and by Social Media? A personal account that an on-air contractors to be active in and engage These guidelines cover all social media presenter, reporter or other RTÉ with social media. These guidelines aim platforms including but not limited to: to provide common-sense guidance for staff member/contractor also uses • Social networking sites (Facebook, its use. for work related matters. Holders Myspace, LinkedIn) of such an account must comply The internet is a fast-moving • Micro-blogging sites (Twitter) with these guidelines when using a technology and it is impossible to • Blogs (including company and hybrid personal account for all use, cover all circumstances. However, the personal blogs as well as comments including without limitation personal principles and practices set out in this on all social media platforms) and professional use. document should always be followed. • Video and photo sharing websites A full knowledge of these guidelines is (Flickr, YouTube) 4. Private Personal Use the personal responsibility of all staff, A personal account is a social media an essential professional requirement • Forums and discussion boards account set up and operated by an and a matter of contractual obligation. (Boards.ie, Google Groups, Yahoo! employee or contractor for personal As social media and other online tools Groups) matters and contains minimal put the power to publish our stories, • Online encyclopedias (Wikipedia, association between the user and our lives and our opinions into all of Sidewiki) RTÉ. Nonetheless, these accounts, our hands, the impact of this on RTÉ’s by nature of the owner’s contractual public service mission is something in association with RTÉ, are bound by which we are all involved. these guidelines. 2 Social Media Guidelines Social media platforms like Twitter are now considered established platforms to break news stories. Breaches of Guidelines trademarks). Staff and contractors service Twitter accounts. All accounts should refer to the legal guide have much to gain from a strong @rte These guidelines are contractually documents that are available on the account and, as this account grows, binding and form part of the terms Hub (http://hub.rte.ie/). its ability to promote RTÉ’s smaller and conditions of employment and/or accounts is significant. engagement with RTÉ. These social media guidelines do not exist in isolation. For a better As such @rte should be a central Breach of these guidelines will be understanding of how these guidelines consideration for all social media treated as a disciplinary matter are informed by other related policies operators and admins, and should for employees and subject to the and guidelines, staff and contractors be central to any local social media normal courses of disciplinary action. should be familiar with the relevant strategy. In particular, @rte should Contractors may have their contracts sections of the policy documents be the active consumer partner for terminated if found to have breached outlined on the next page. competitions, content-distribution and these guidelines. general promotional or mar-comms activities. Obligations and Constraints @rte on Twitter RTÉ’s organisational account is @rte. We are all obliged to understand the The account is resourced by a central Accounts should treat this account constraints that apply to us as RTÉ team who are available to assist with as the leader consumer engagement staff or contractors when we operate, the promotion of any content or class 1, account and engage proactively with administrate or use social media 2 or 3 accounts. the account so as to maximise exposure. that sits in one or more of the above For services without dedicated Twitter categories. accounts, the convention when referring For All Staff is as follows: “@rte One”; “@rte Two”; “@ RTÉ Staff Manual Staff and contractors should be aware rte Cor na nOg”; “@rte Supporting the The Irish and English language that publishing on social media is no Arts”, etc. versions of the RTÉ Staff Manual different to publishing on traditional/ are available on the Hub. mainstream media and must be aware The account aims to promote RTÉ of the risks that may arise as a result and all its services to a range of of publication on social media such demographics, publishing news, as defamation, contempt and privacy entertainment, sport and lifestyle and intellectual property rights content, driving back to the originating infringement (including copyright and 3 Chapter 7 Policies and Procedures, For Programme-Makers Section 6 – RTÉ Personal and Public and Journalists Activities of Staff These guidelines are This section of the RTÉ Staff Manual Programme-makers and journalists was updated in 2010 and the updated should supplement knowledge of social contractually binding version can be accessed on the Hub. media guidelines by consulting the documents below. and form part of the (Note: Section 6 [subsection 4] of the terms and conditions above document provides guidance RTÉ Journalism Guidelines around the area of RTÉ Staff and of employment and/or Politics.) RTÉ Programme Content Standards engagement with RTÉ. RTÉ Code of Business Conduct (2010) All of these documents, both Irish and English versions, are available RTÉ Child Protection Policy 2013 on RTÉ’s intranet, the Hub. This policy was updated in June 2013 and developed in line with Guidelines Updating the requirements of ‘Children First Procedure National Guidance for the Protection These guidelines will be reviewed as and Welfare of Children 2011’. required. This document is available http://hub.rte.ie/wp-content/ on the Hub. This online version will uploads/2013/01/RT%C3%89-Child- always be up to date and any changes Protection-Policy-2013.pdf to it will be highlighted by news items on the Hub. 4 Social Media Guidelines Section 1. Set-up and Management of Official RTÉ Branded Social Media Accounts This section relates to Official Service It is strongly advised that all All social media administrator(s) Accounts (Classification 1) and Official informal activity on third-party must be familiar with the legal guide Programme Accounts (Classification sites such as Facebook and on documents that are available on the 2).