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Beckinsale accepts libel payout

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

The actress Kate Beckinsale accepted £20,000 libel damages from Express Newspapers yesterday over a claim that she had been passed over for her dream role as Barbarella.

Yard rules out inquiry as hacking row simmers on

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Scotland Yard announced last night that "no further investigation is required" into allegations that Rupert Murdoch's News Group newspapers conducted a massive phone-hacking campaign against thousands of phones – but the company's lawyers are braced for a rash of compensation claims from public figures who may have been targeted.

Coronation Street shifts from Wednesday to Thursday

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:55:13 GMT

Coronation Street is to move from Wednesday nights in a break with almost 50 years of broadcasting tradition.

Washington Post sorry after sale of political dinners turns sour

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Newspapers prefer to report the news, not generate it, and few more so than the Washington Post. But the publication which broke the Watergate story, which is in dire financial circumstances, has found itself in the middle of a very uncomfortable scandal entirely of its own making – and all because somebody upstairs had a (batty) brainwave to help mitigate the red ink.

'Post' sorry after sale of political dinners turns sour

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Millions of UK viewers tune in for Michael Jackson send off

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:26:07 GMT

Michael Jackson's star-studded memorial was a bigger draw than EastEnders, according to overnight viewing figures.

Belfast Telegraph editor announces retirement

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:36:48 GMT

The editor of the Belfast Telegraph, Martin Lindsay, is to retire at the end of the summer.

ESPN plans to stay in the studio

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

ESPN will broadcast Premier League matches in Britain from a London-based studio rather than live from the grounds, using a channel previously dedicated to American sports. ESPN, owned by The Walt Disney Co, acquired the rights to televise 46 matches next season and 23 in each of the following three after the Irish broadcaster Setanta collapsed last month. The matches will be aired on the British ESPN channel, previously known as ESPN America, it was announced yesterday. The channel will continue showing American sports.

Still 'no decision' on Fern Britton's replacement

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:34:35 GMT

ITV insisted has insisted that no decision had been made on who would replace Fern Britton on This Morning, following reports that Holly Willoughby was in line for the job.

BBC2 clears schedule to screen Jackson service

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:45:49 GMT

BBC2 is to clear its schedule to screen the Michael Jackson memorial service live.

Express owner takes on investigative journalist

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:51:10 GMT

One man is a billionaire newspaper proprietor who values his reputation as one of the toughest negotiators in the business. The other is an investigative journalist who loves to rip the facade off the rich and powerful to show what they are really like.

Jonathan Ross cleared over 'homophobic' comment

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:48:30 GMT

Jonathan Ross did not breach broadcasting rules when he suggested that parents should put their sons up for adoption if they wanted a Hannah Montana MP3 player, industry watchdog Ofcom found today.

Mark Hanson: 'Tory smear machine bulliues trade journalist'

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:38:27 GMT

I nearly choked over my Sunday roast when I saw the name of Labour blogger, Alex Hilton, linked with Alistair Campbell, a pretty girl and a grand internet conspiracy via the Mail on Sunday.

Kit Kats as postcards? This is not the work of Mad Men

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:00:57 GMT

Bob Jeffrey has an expression: “idea racism”. He uses it to describe the mind-set that says the only environments in which creative work can flourish are the island of Manhattan – the Madison Avenue of television’s Mad Men – or Zone One of the London Tube map.

Question Time: Ian Camfield, radio presenter

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:00:51 GMT

Work: Presents 'The No Nonsense Breakfast Show With Ian Camfield' on Xfm London 104.9 FM, weekdays from 7am-11am

Life: Aged 31, he lives in Belsize Park, north London

Balance: Going to gigs (Spinal Tap, Steely Dan and Blur in the past week). I’m trying to develop a “gym hobby”

Stephen Glover: Even the young were bemused by this extraordinary media hysteria

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:00:37 GMT

Not since Princess Diana died have the media gone so wild. The death of Michael Jackson has provoked much breathless coverage on the BBC and commercial channels, in the qualities and the tabloids. Every aspect of his childhood, career and dying has been exhaustively examined.

The Channel 4 Chatty Man who loves to talk but not to Twitter

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:00:16 GMT

Alan Carr steps smartly across London's Soho Square with his helmet in his hand. The royal blue item of bicycling equipment is not a prop for a risqué gag but rather a symbol of his intention to get fit by pedallling around the capital.

For the record: 06/07/2009

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:00:13 GMT

“I think they might benefit from a Beeching-style enquiry to explore just how well they are serving the public with the public’s money and just how many of those media branchlines are really necessary and viable” The ITV newsreader Alastair Stewart questions the value of the BBC

Where the real power lies in creative Britain

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:00:04 GMT

Click on the gallery on the right to view the list.

A spy in Speedos: Wife blows cover of MI6 chief on Facebook

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Opposition parties yesterday demanded an inquiry into how personal details about the head of MI6, Sir John Sawers, were allowed to be left on Facebook.

Matthew Norman: A polygraph test for pompous politicians

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

A spat between Ed Balls and The Spectator's political editor Fraser Nelson suggests a refinement to an old idea about how the media should deal with political whoppers.

Claire Beale On Advertising: Faraway galaxy comes to street near you

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

You'll remember that scene in Star Wars when bun-headed Princess Leia appears in holographic form to tell Obi-Wan Kenobi that he's her only hope. Fantastical sci-fi, back in the Seventies. Not any more; today it's a reality, of a sort, and it's the latest hot thing in marketing. Welcome to the world of "augmented reality", or AR.

Sport on TV: Cold comforts for Cracknell as bottom falls out of his world

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

At last week's Henley Regatta, gentlemen in the Members' Enclosure were allowed to take off their jackets for the first time in 33 years, so intense was the heat. Double Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell may have allowed himself a wry smile. Six months ago he was trekking across Antarctica in the first race to the South Pole since Scott and Amundsen in 1911. It must have been tempting to tip the champagne bucket over his head as he mopped his brow with a sweaty slice of smoked salmon.

The Last Word: These pointless ambushes are taking the mic

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

As Andy Roddick left Centre Court following his epic victory over Lleyton Hewitt late on Wednesday evening, Pat Cash was pointing out to BBC television viewers that what he needed now, before giving a thought to a semi-final against Andy Murray, was a good session of "stretching and icing". As a former Wimbledon champion, even from a less scientific age, Cash knows all about priorities in those circumstances.

Duncan: I'm being persecuted

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Alan Duncan, the shadow leader of the Commons, yesterday criticised what he called a "witch-hunt" against him and other MPs over their expenses.