We encourage our members to have a persona on social media in order to promote themselves and their show(s). For those who use Twitter, you may want to consider creating a 'professional' account and on Facebook it would be encouraged that you create a page dedicated to your persona as a presenter rather than using your personal profile.

1. Association with Black Country Radio: Your personal social media accounts are personal and are owned by you. However, if you could be publicly associated with Black Country Radio then we expect you to abide by the following guidelines on social media, particularly in posts relating to your work for us.

It should also be remembered that, just as you would be expected to be impartial on air, that expectation extends to social media. Please DO NOT comment on posts on our public Facebook page, offering an opinion.

2. Tone: Always treat people with respect and professionalism on social media, even if you disagree with them. Ignore those who are abusive or offensive, and avoid public arguments on social media - with colleagues, contributors or others.

If your personal accounts are opinionated places, consider making them private so only friends and family can interact with you on them and create a 'professional' account, particularly on Twitter for station-related content.

3. Dealing with abuse: Make sure you are safe. Report any online abuse to the relevant platforms:

Twitter
Facebook
Instagram

Do not respond or escalate it - block or mute troublemakers so you do not see their posts. If you feel threatened, speak to someone in the management team.

4. Accuracy: Only share or retweet verified information from trusted sources; do not blur fact and opinion. If you make a mistake or re-post inaccurate information, delete the post with errors to prevent it spreading further, and make a new post explaining what has happened. Use common sense and think twice before you post.

Please try and share stories from the stations website rather than other brands. You can find our local and national stories, as well as a selection of articles from the worlds of sport, business, politics, entertainment etc at blackcountryradio.co.uk/news - at the top of each post is the ability to share it directly to social media.

5. Legal, privacy and copyright: You are legally responsible for what you say online on your personal social media accounts. Do not make derogatory or defamatory comments (this includes retweeting or liking other people’s comments). Do not post anything that could be classed as confidential and be aware of contempt of court issues if you are tweeting about an active case.

If you have any questions, please do get in touch with a member of the management team.

You may consider yourself a volunteer, but the station considers you a media professional.