Reuters's rule

My book Newspaper English discusses the need to write a short lead of about 25 words. (Chapter 2, Page No.31, https://amzn.to/2SxVLf4 )

Reuter's rule says:

Count the words in your first sentence. If there are more than 25, start to get nervous. If there are more than 30, then get very nervous. By the time you reach 40, it is time to break the sentence in two and reach for a full stop. If you reach 50, you have definitely gone too far. Simply breaking the sentence can be a very useful way of shortening your lead.

It is nothing new. Then,  why should I mention it, now? Again and again?

That is because even my colleagues in leading newspapers keep flouting such rules and guidelines. Here is one example, quoted at the beginning of the second chapter of the book :

Three days after BCCI boss N. Srinivasan claimed at a packed press conference that he enjoyed the unanimous support of the Board, Rajeev Shukla, IPL commissioner and one of BCCI's most powerful men, told The Times of India on Wednesday evening that he and Arun Jaitley, another heavyweight, wanted Srinivasan to ‘cede functional responsibilities during the duration of the probe’ into the charges of betting and fixing against his son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings principal Gurunath Meiyappan, who was arrested midnight of Friday-Saturday and whose custody was on Wednesday extended to May 31.

(One sentence, 93 words).

Do you have a comment on such a lead, please? 

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