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NBC and Twitter Apologize for Suspending Reporter’s Account Over Olympics Criticism

Aug 1, 2012  •  Post A Comment

After suspending a British newspaper reporter for posting complaints about NBC’s Olympics coverage and giving out the email address of the head of NBC Olympics, Twitter backpedaled and apologized for "the oversight," reports The New York Times’ Media Decoder.

NBC also apologized for having Guy Adams’ account suspended, and Twitter reactivated his account, the story notes.

As previously reported, Adams, a correspondent for the British newspaper The Independent, was suspended for what Twitter said was posting an individual’s private information. Adams had published the corporate email account for Gary Zenkel, the president of NBC Olympics, urging followers to tell him what they thought of NBC’s tape delay.

“Our interest was in protecting our executive, not suspending the user from Twitter,” NBC said in a statement, according to The Times. “We didn’t initially understand the repercussions of our complaint, but now that we do, we have rescinded it.”

Many Twitter users were irked by the suspension, with some posting Zenkel’s email address to show solidarity with Adams, the story notes. They also paired the hashtags #guyadams with #NBCFail, which has become the code for criticisms of NBC’s Olympics coverage. Some Twitter users also threatened to boycott NBC’s Olympics coverage.

More than 14,000 mentions of @guyadams were posted on Twitter during a 24-hour period, the story adds.

One Comment

  1. I you boycott the Olympics you will be the loser. They have been great to watch. The women’s gymnastics were particularly thrilling.

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