Media Brief

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

BBC unions have named dates for possible strike action, as they consult their members over the BBC's new pension proposals. The Daily Mail says "BBC unions last night declared war on the Conservatives with an extraordinary threat to black out coverage of David Cameron's keynote speech to the Tory party conference." In a leading article, the paper says "Could there be any clearer indication of their Left-wing slant than the threat to black out coverage of David Cameron's speech to the Conservative conference?"

The Guardian says it could hit coverage of the Chancellor's Spending Review on October 20th. The BBC response quoted in the article is of surprise that the unions had announced strike dates "when we have just announced a new 60 day consultation period on a significant addition to our pension proposals."

The unions' statement on the Bectu website says: "BECTU, the NUJ and Unite have announced a further programme of meetings with members to discuss new pension proposals from the BBC. However the backdrop to the consultations will be formal notice of a number of strike dates." They have withdrawn notices for strikes on September 20 and 21, which would have hit the LibDem conference.

The Guardian reports that BBC director general Mark Thompson set out new pension proposals yesterday in an email to staff.

London's Capital Radio is to be turned into a quasi-national station by its owners Global Radio, the BBC reports. It is re-branding the six Galaxy stations as well as Red Dragon, RAM, Trent and Leicester Sound. Breakfast, drivetime and news programmes will be local, others will be nationally networked, like the Heart chain of stations.

A lawsuit alleging a police cover-up of phone hacking has been launched by one of Scotland Yard's own former senior officers, Brian Paddick, together with the former Labour minister Chris Bryant, reports the Guardian.

The Guardian says media analyst Clare Enders has confirmed she has written to the Business Secretary Vince Cable, urging him to block the News Corporation takeover of BSkyB.

The TUC's vote for a national campaign of industrial action against public spending cuts is seen by the Daily Mirror as the start of a fight back. But the Daily Telegraph accuses the TUC of still having its head in the sand, as shown in the BBC's newspaper review.

Links in full

• Daily Mail | BBC unions' war on Tories: Strikers plan to black out Cameron's key conference speech
• Daily Mail | BBC's staff show their true colours
• Guardian | BBC strike threat to coverage of government spending review
• Bectu | BBC pensions: strike dates named as consultations continue
• Guardian | Mark Thompson's email on BBC pensions
• BBC | Capital Radio brand to go national
• Guardian | Phone hacking: Brian Paddick and Chris Bryant launch legal action
• Guardian | Rupert Murdoch's Sky takeover should be blocked, Vince Cable told
• BBC | Newspaper review

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