Greenpeace bungled a bank job

Greenpeace came along to face accusations that it had hijacked the media with its slick Brent Spar occupation caper. Richard Titchen, the group's public affairs director, was on hand to explain that Greenpeace hadn't always been quite so adept. He recalled an early protest against World Bank activities in southeast Asia. The group planned to unfurl a huge banner reading: "When the last tree has been cut, the last river been poisoned, you will discover you can't eat money" down the outside of the bank's HQ in the US. Unfortunately, the protesters had not rehearsed, so when they scaled the bank walls and dropped the banner, a corner snagged. And the message beamed around the world by the assembled media? "When the last tree has been cut, the last river been poisoned, you will disco."

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Mr Titchen was also very keen to explain how accommodating Greenpeace is in making its own film footage of various campaigns available to the media. However, David Lloyd, Channel 4's senior commissioning editor of news and current affairs, points out that co-operation can be selective. Take a Norwegian-produced documentary screened in Denmark, which paints a less than complimentary picture of the pressure group and, in particular, the activities of its founder David MacTaggart. Channel 4 looked at a version for the UK, but ran into legal problems, not least concerning several minutes of useful Greenpeace-shot footage contained in the 55- minute film. Word is that if Channel 4 uses the film, Greenpeace will treat it as a breach of copyright and take the appropriate legal action. That's how accommodating.

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Critics of Channel 4 who fear that it has slipped into a pit of filth will be pleased to hear that station director of programmes John Willis's favourite television show is the wholesome Postman Pat. "I have a deep affection for Postman Pat but I wish it was a bit more subversive sometimes," he said in an interview. Asked whether or not there were any executives on rival networks he would like to poach, Willis replied: "Well, there's one or two I would like to grill, fry and kebab."

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Can't think where this notion that TV is no longer about programmes has sprung from. Anyway, BBC Scotland is proud of its spanking new financial database, christened HAMISH by the finance department to mark the sad passing of somebody's sheepdog. Ron Neil, md of regional broadcasting, finds this sentimental nonsense a bit soppy. He would far rather it was some kind of slick acronym and has sent out for suggestions. The best idea so far - Half Arsed Management Information Systems from Headquarters.