Janice Turner today - RA and sports

[ErrolTheDragon]

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/give-interns-the-twitter-reins-at-your-peril-khm5f635x?shareToken=e8314763482fb4b09834e8dfbd2a13c5

It's a good piece, and she's right, but is there any evidence that the RA policy was determined by an intern? They made a decision not to stock Jess's products in the shop, which was presumably made at a relatively senior level. The big announcement on Instagram about Jess being transphobic seems much too significant to have been left to an intern - though then again, you'd imagine someone more senior would know better than to post something on social media that could open the institution up to a libel suit. All a bit of a mystery.

I think there's a tendency to unfairly use 'intern' as a face-saver when there's a communications cockup, and I agree that neither an intern nor 'freelance fools with the political nous of 12-year-olds' would have had the power to decide on what's sold in the shop.

Hm.... I can't see any comments on this piece. (There are on the 'Boris rape apology'.

Good bit about Jenner. Apart from the clear demonstration of how unfair having males in women's sports is, Jenner also shows that transwomen can participate at the highest level. They may have to make hard choices on their priorities, but then so do other athletes - particularly women who may need to delay starting a family whereas men don't.

So what are the lessons? First, Twitter accounts are a powerful part of corporate identity so don’t outsource them to interns or freelance fools with the political nous of 12-year-olds. Tweeters should not merrily bypass your own decision-making protocols, inventing policy on the hoof. (How shaming that the RA had to hold an emergency meeting of distinguished academicians to recommit to free speech, a core value dumped in one rash Instagram post.)

This was so strong and so right.

I can see >160 comments if I scroll down.

archive version: archive.is/s8WK2