BBC chief tells staff to stop tweeting on scandal

LONDON – The beleaguered BBC is asking its staff to tone down the tweets.

Britain's national broadcaster is in crisis over its bungled reporting of a child sex-abuse scandal. Its top executive has resigned, two more have temporarily stepped down and others are facing disciplinary proceedings.

Unsurprisingly, some of the BBC's 20,000 staff -- including well-known personalities -- have taken to social media to discuss its woes.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported Tuesday that Fran Unsworth, the newly appointed head of BBC News, had sent an email urging staff to pull together and advising that "it would be helpful if some of our problems were not played out publicly across social media and in the pages of the national press."

The BBC confirmed that Unsworth "did send an email of that nature."