The Waugh Room

Friday 30th September 2011 | 09:21

Craig the Twitter Spy

Ever since that infamous shot of him wearing Dr Dre headphones, it's been clear that Craig Oliver likes to get on down with the kids.

Now it seems that his hipster-zeitgeistometer includes finally getting Number 10 to follow Twitter.

Unbeknown to most, David Cameron's communications director is actually on Twitter, but he lurks in the shadows merely following rather than engaging.

The @DirCommTen account has made full use of security settings and its tweets are protected. At first I thought it may be a spoof (there is already the very unfunny @CraigOliverNo10) but one high level source tells me it's actually him.

According to those who know him, one key clue is the name CSO that is attached the Twitter account: Oliver's middle name is Stuart.

Only a tiny number of Tweeters follow @DirCommTen (20 people in fact). They include BBC News Channel controller Kevin Bakhurst and BBC Home News Editor Neil Henderson, plus the excellent Tweetminster.

Yet what's more interesting is who he is following. Among the 116 honoured accounts are (not surprisingly) lots of BBC types such as Frank Gardiner, Justin Webb, Jeremy Vine, Andrew Neil and so on.

The @DirCommTen account also follows Ian Birrell (who is close to Steve Hilton), Jon Snow, George Pascoe Watson, Tom Bradby and former No.10 spinner Lance Price. Not many (if any) of them may even have been aware until now that their every Tweet was being monitored by Downing Street's beady eye.

While following the Twittersphere is undoubtedly sensible media management, No.10 still lack a presence on the social media network that, say, Sarah Brown, once had. 

Of course, the PM once said that 'too many tweets make a twat' and his advisers accept that his colourful slapdown means that he can't do it himself now. But they know they need some way of getting out the message as effectively as William Hague does.

As for Craig, he's continuing to delight his boss with his handling of TV pictures and stories on the Government, particularly on the early evening news bulletins.

The focus on the 6 o'clock and 10 o'clock news is probably driven by long-term trends showing paper readership is falling while TV (and particularly radio) audiences are buoyant.

There is a price, however. Some recent 5pm or 6pm embargoes on clips and announcements mean that the daily newspapers look very old the following day. That in turn means unhappy news desks and editors. The printed press might look weaker (particularly post-hackgate), but it still carries serious clout and is ignored at Downing Street's peril.

I guess if the papers Tweet their concerns, maybe they'll get a hearing...

 

UPDATE: Callum May tells me that the dead giveaway is also that @DirCommTen also follows BBC News anchor Joanna Gosling....who just happens to be Mrs Craig Stuart Oliver.

FURTHER UPDATE: Looks like BBC news journo Sarah Deech, aka @Londonette, was the first to suspect Dr Dre. But after she guessed it was him, he changed his name to CSO and locked his account.