Media Brief
Post categories: mediabrief
| 10:28 UK time, Wednesday, 16 February 2011
I'm the BBC's media correspondent and this is my brief selection of what's going on.
The BBC should have acted much earlier to cut the pay of its top executives, a member of the BBC Trust has told MPs. The Telegraph reports the Corporation announced a year ago it was cutting its senior management salary bill by 25%. Anthony Fry expressed regret in the evidence he gave yesterday to the Public Accounts Committee:
"At the BBC Trust, we have encouraged the director-general in his efforts. If you're asking me, do I wish that those announcements had been made 24 months ago, I certainly do."
The Guardian says Channel 6, the company bidding to run the proposed national TV network that underpins Jeremy Hunt's plan to deliver local news, claims it will have a bigger programming budget than Channel 5. Run by former Trinity Mirror chief executive Richard Horwood, Channel 6 is the only confirmed bidder to run the Freeview channel ahead of Hunt's deadline for expressions of interest on 1 March.
Lawyers for News International yesterday insisted there was "no evidence" that a detective employed by the News of the World hacked into the voicemails of two public figures about whom he held extensive information, including their passwords. The Independent reports Steve Coogan and Andy Gray are suing the NotW for breach of privacy and confidence by allegedly accessing their voicemail messages.
The BBC's newspaper reviews says the papers carry a mixed bag on Wednesday with none of the front pages leading on the same story. But with inflation now standing at 4%, several papers contemplate the Bank of England's next move on interest rates.
Links in full
• Telegraph | Top BBC pay should have been cut much sooner... says BBC chief
• Guardian | National TV bidder Channel 6 pledges bigger budget than Channel 5
• Independent | 'News of the World' insists there is no evidence in phone-hacking case
• BBC | Newspaper review
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• Read Tuesday's Media Brief
