Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Social media
January 20, 2023

Twitter gives Mirror journalists special logos in new verification trial

Twitter reached out to the Mirror offering it the chance to take part in the beta test.

By Bron Maher

Twitter is testing a new feature that sees verified journalists identified alongside a logo for their publication.

Several Daily Mirror journalists on the platform now have a new symbol showing the Mirror logo next to their blue ticks linking to the brand’s own Twitter account.

Parent company Reach said Twitter invited the Mirror to get involved in the trial run.

A tweet from Mirror Whitehall correspondent Mikey Smith, featuring the new logo next to his name. Screenshot: Press Gazette

So far journalists including Whitehall correspondent Mikey Smith, deputy online political editor Lizzy Buchan, assistant editor Jason Beattie and editor-in-chief Alison Phillips have received the link and logo.

Reach group head of social media Yara Silva – who also has the new feature on her account – said: “Twitter invited the Mirror to take part in their new beta test for Twitter Blue Business which includes a new verified signal which links certain other accounts to one main account.

“The @DailyMirror account is our main one (and it has a gold tick instead of blue), and we were then able to submit a number of other Mirror accounts and journalists to be affiliated with it.

“So far it’s been a useful tool for us – making it clearer that our smaller accounts and affiliated journalists are trustworthy sources which are verifiably connected to the Mirror brand.”

Twitter has taken a muddled approach to verification since new owner Elon Musk took over the platform and made its “blue ticks” – which were previously centrally distributed to those who applied and were deemed notable enough – available to any users willing to pay.

This has meant a blue tick is no longer the same guarantee of authenticity – a challenge Twitter has faced by deploying additional gold ticks for companies and grey ticks for governments.

[Read more: Twitter blue tick – Will it be worth journalists and publishers paying for?]

Topics in this article : ,

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Websites in our network