Matthew Garrahan of the Financial Times tweeted:
Ominous: Twitter has shut down @guyadams‘ account after #NBC complained about tweets he wrote that criticised its #Olympics coverage.
— Matthew Garrahan (@MattGarrahan) July 30, 2012
Twitter users have reacted with scepticism to the claims, however Richard Hall, an Indy journalist working on the paper’s foreign news desk, has tweeted to say that Adams will be writing about his Twitter ban in tomorrow’s Independent.
Hear all about
@guyadams‘ Twitter ban from the man himself in tomorrow’s@independent.#nbc#london2012— Richard Hall (@_RichardHall) July 30, 2012
Adams had been critical of NBC’s beleaguered Olympic coverage, highlighting the way in which the network is taping events and screening them at prime time in order to charge more for advertising.
NBC’s coverage of the Games Opening Ceremony was criticised from all quarters for its ‘ignorant commentary’ and for cutting a tribute to victims of terrorism because it wasn’t ‘tailored to an American audience’.
In Adam’s latest Independent article he wrote about NBC’s coverage of the clash between Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte:
“For example, Saturday’s titanic swimming clash between Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte wasn’t broadcast in the USA until several hours after it took place. Adding insult to injury, NBC had already announced the result on its own evening news bulletin.”
Jim Waterson, a journalist at City AM, suggested that a tweet sent by Adams, which showed the email address of an NBC executive and urged people to send their criticism of NBC’s Olympic coverage to him, may have contributed to his banning.
James Ball of the Washington Post suggested that “suspension seems excessive for sharing an email account”.
