MediaGuardian briefing

Media briefing Wednesday 18 Feb 2015 g Top stories on MediaGuardian More » Telegraph's Peter Oborne resigns, saying HSBC coverage a 'fraud on readers' Ex-chief political commentator launches blistering attack on paper, saying it put bank’s interests before readers to save ad contract  Ukip rejects BBC Newsnight offer to discuss Channel 4 row Nigel Farage’s party declines chance to condemn ‘biased’ film – and also refuses to put forward a woman for a panel on the show discussing the EU  BBC3 bid: ​Jimmy Mulville and Jon Thoday step up pressure on trust Independent producers flesh out privatisation plan in an attempt to save channel from online-only future  ITV turns to Ninja Warriors to fill Total Wipeout gap Broadcaster is leaping into the void left by the BBC programme with a new show inspired by an extreme assault-course game show from Japan  Jon Snow gets the inside dope on skunk Channel 4 News presenter tells how inhaling cannabis for Drugs Live programme left him more frightened than he has ever been before  Snapchat values itself at $19bn App manufacturer hopes to raise $500m in venture capital investment in deal that would make founder Evan Spiegel’s stake worth $2.85bn  LinkedIn hires Fortune reporter as its new economy editor Business social network highlights its hopes to be a news source with another addition to its editorial team  Sun deputy editor: it would be wrong to bar tips to paper Geoff Webster tells court it is not for journalists to decide whether a public official should or should not ring the paper with a story  German journalist's complaint about 'Hitler moustache' story rejected Correspondent claimed that the Scotsman attributed inaccurate quotes to him in story about his treatment by locals  BBC to snub Bradford again by not showing FA Cup tie with Reading The BBC is set to confirm that it will not show Bradford City’s first FA Cup sixth-round tie since 1976 despite anger that they were snubbed in the last round  Today's newspaper headlines More » Today's media stories from the papers Our roundup of the day's media stories, including Peter Oborne quits Telegraph, denouncing management, and Ukip rejects Newsnight offer to discuss C4 row  Media Monkey's pick of the day More » Is this the worst drop intro ever written? Journalism students worldwide are taught about the importance of balancing light and shade in their work – to strive for that “light touch” that news editors crave to cut through page after page of death and misery. The “drop intro” is the keystone of the art; a signal to the reader that nothing so important has happened that you can’t wait until the second, third (or sometimes even lower) paragraph to be told. And by jove we can have a jolly good time together while we get there. (Just like we’re having here, Monkey hopes.) So with it being Valentine’s season, you can see what the top of this otherwise bread-and-butter Washington Post crime report was trying to achieve. The lede on this @washingtonpost story is a crime against journalism pic.twitter.com/CnTHHf4Lmp— Toby Harnden (@tobyharnden) February 16, 2015 But on a crime story – really? And underneath a dead-straight headline – really? Monkey is loth to ridicule the bylined writers, as sometimes it can be a well-meaning subeditor or news editor who attempts to inject a bit of sunshine high up a story. But their faces should be as red as that fire truck. Have you seen a worse intro than that? [Monkey grabs tin hat and prepares for someone to throw some of his own bad writing in his face]

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