BBC tells stars to not promote clothing brands on social media after horse racing presenter breached the corporation’s rules by tagging two fashion labels in Twitter post about Radio 5 Live’s Grand National coverage
- Gina Bryce broke corporation rules when tagging brands in tweets about work
- She did so during the BBC coverage of the Grand National on Radio 5 Live
- Dan Walker also promoted clothing brands before his move to Channel 5
The BBC has warned stars not to promote brands – after a radio presenter broke rules when covering last month’s Grand National.
Gina Bryce, a horse racing presenter on Radio 5 Live, promoted Bee Smith Millinery and Jane Lewis Atelier in a tweet about the corporation’s coverage of the famous race, The Times reports.
The star wrote: ‘Grand National Day. Join me and the amazing @bbc5live team from 12pm today for all the buildup’ on Twitter and tagged the two brands.
Gina Bryce, a horse racing presenter on Radio 5 Live, promoted Bee Smith Millinery and Jane Lewis Atelier in a tweet about the corporation’s coverage of the famous race
The corporation has now reissued guidance on the matter.
BBC’s editorial guidelines state: ‘No on-air talent should promote products, goods, services or clothing they use on air.’
The corporation said that a complaint which had been made had merit, saying: ‘With regards to a tweet posted by Gina on the day, tagging the brands she was wearing, while also tagging the BBC 5 Live page and discussing her work, we do agree that this would go beyond the BBC’s usual expectations.’
The complaint submitted by Alex May also focussed on Bryce’s work with Paddy Power but she was ruled to not have broken rules in that partnership.
The Times also uncovered that Dan Walker had posted about brands who gave him discounted clothing – after which he stopped before his recent move to Channel 5 News.
The Times also uncovered that Dan Walker had posted about brands who gave him discounted clothing
Walker, 44, received clothes and shoes from Castore and Oliver Sweeney but the BBC said he had not broken any rules.
Despite this, a source close to Walker said that he would no longer accept gifts from third parties because of the optics.
A BBC spokesman said: ‘This has been investigated and dealt with internally.’