Media Diary: Bale tale fails to match the hype

Twitter

The downside to using Twitter to drive interest in stories was superbly demonstrated on Thursday by Ian Prior, The Guardian sports editor.

"Major – and boy do I mean it – football exclusive coming up" he tweeted followers, prompting a surge of expectation on football message boards. The "exclusive" turned out to be the unremarkable rumour that Inter Milan might bid for Tottenham's Gareth Bale, above, in the summer. "Is that it?" asked the first of more than 600 furious respondents on The Guardian website. Prior was soon tweeting that he was "being kicked senseless", ending his day with the words "More overhyped twaddle tomorrow if I'm still in a job."

Wikileaks causes a stench in NY

US Press

The New York Times has published a remarkable account by its executive editor Bill Keller of its handling of the Wikileaks story. Not only does he write of Julian Assange that "he smelled as if he hadn't bathed in days" but he accuses The Guardian of exaggerating unreported Afghan civilian deaths.

Anti-gay mob steal Stone title

Campaigns

Shamefully, journalists leading an anti-gay witch-hunt in Uganda have misappropriated for their bigoted rag the title of that great campaigning US magazine Rolling Stone.