Media Brief

Post categories: mediabrief

Torin Douglas | 10:20 UK time, Wednesday, 10 March 2010

I'm the BBC's media correspondent and this is my summary of what's going on.

The Guardian says it understands that the News of the World has paid £1m to Max Clifford to drop a legal action over the interception of his voicemail messages. It follows a similar payment to Gordon Taylor, head of the Professional Footballers Association. The Guardian says the News of the World declined to comment, but quotes Max Clifford as "very happy with the outcome".

The Press Complaints Commission and the Football Association are investigating reports that newspapers have been offered recordings of discussions between England's players and coaches.

The long-awaited sequel to Phantom of the Opera has divided fans at previews, ahead of last night's First Night.

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Charles Spencer in the Daily Telegraph says Love Never Dies is Andrew Lloyd-Webber's finest musical since Phantom of the Opera.

Benedict Nightingale in The Times is less impressed by Love Never Dies. Where's the menace, he asks?

The Home Secretary Alan Johnson has added his voice to those saying Facebook should put the official 'panic button' on its screen, after the murder of schoolgirl Ashleigh Hall according to the Daily Mail and the Independent.

The inquest verdict into the deaths of four UK soldiers, including one woman, in Afghanistan is widely reported as reflected in the BBC newspaper review.

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