Media Brief
I'm the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s media correspondent and this is my brief selection of what's going on in the industry.
The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ World Service could reverse its decision to axe short-wave broadcasts of its Hindi radio news output, listened to by 11 million people in rural India, after a public outcry led by veteran journalist Sir Mark Tully. The service will continue for an hour a day, , while the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ conducts talks with "a number of commercial parties" to continue funding it.
that Lord Sugar has been hired by the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ and the other major terrestrial broadcasters "to save ailing internet-connected set-top box venture, YouView". He'll replace Kip Meek as non-executive chairman.
The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s new "face of religion" is an atheist who claims that God had a wife and Eve was "unfairly maligned" by sexist scholars, . Dr Francesca Stavrakopoulou has been given a primetime ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two series, The Bible's Buried Secrets.
David Cameron was forced to try to head off a rift with Buckingham Palace last night after his new spin-doctor appeared to question the Duke of York's future as a British trade envoy. Downing Street sources - understood to be Craig Oliver, the Prime Minister's new director of communications - briefed the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ that Prince Andrew's position might become "untenable" if further revelations about his links to the controversial American billionaire Jeffrey Epstein came to light.
David Cameron's hapless new spin doctor looked seriously out of the loop yesterday, .
"Bungling ex-³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ news chief Craig Oliver was forced to grab a cab when he missed the PM's motorcade ...for a Cabinet away day in Derby."
Downing Street sources played down Mr Oliver's difficulties, saying he still managed to catch the train with Mr Cameron.
Charlie Sheen, the highest paid actor on US television, has been fired from the hit sitcom Two and a Half Men by Warner Bros Television, reports ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ News. The studio said it had acted after "careful consideration", amid a frenzy of US media reports on Sheen's controversial personal life. No decision has been made on the future of the series.
On the front pages of the newspapers, the Daily Telegraph speaks of a blame game starting in Whitehall over the botched SAS mission to Libya. The Daily Express describes Mr Hague as being "on the ropes", while the Daily Mail says No 10 hung him out to dry.
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