Media Brief

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

WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell says "mild expansion" is replacing the "fear phase" that gripped markets last year. The world's largest advertising group reports a 36 % increase in half-year profits to £244m reports the BBC.

The Guardian reports that the Church of England says the BBC should appoint a religion editor to act as a "trusted guide". It praises the BBC's religious output in a submission to the BBC Trust review of Radio 3, Radio 4 and BBC7.

The Sun reports Harper Collins has accused the BBC of using licence fee money to gag a book by Top Gear's secret driver The Stig. The BBC says the book breaches confidentiality obligations.

The Mirror has fresh allegations over "TV trickery" on ITV1's X Factor. It claims Autotune has been widely used, both to improve and worsen singers' performances.

The editor of music magazine Future Music tells the BBC that sound engineers say Autotune is used in 99% of recorded music.

In his blog, the BBC arts editor Will Gompertz asks in his blog what's the problem?

The BBC Newspaper review shows some papers carry pictures of one of the miners found alive in Chile after being trapped underground.

Links in full

• BBC | WPP profits hit £244m as advertising market strengthens
• John Plunkett | Guardian | BBC should have a religion editor, says Church of England
• Sun | 'BBC fee spent on Stig fight'
• BBC | Top Gear Stig legal wrangle goes to court
• Mark Jefferies | Mirror | X Factor Auto-Tune scandal deepens amidst claims performances were altered during live finals
• BBC | How commonplace is autotune?
• Will Gompertz | BBC | Who cares about autotune?
• BBC | Newspaper review

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