MassCom Magazine

Sir Winston Churchill's vast written archive is to be put online. The publisher Bloomsbury is to digitise 1 million documents, held in 2,500 boxes in purpose-built vaults at Churchill College in Cambridge, by 2012.

It is the brash upstart on the Israeli media scene with money to burn and already with a reputation it's trying to shed. Israel Hayom, a free newspaper that for the first time has stormed to the front of Israel's circulation battle, is such a strong backer of the prime minister that its critics call it "Bibiton" – a play on the nickname of Benjamin Netanyahu. In addition to the editorial line, the impression is compounded by the fact that founder and financier, the US Jewish billionaire Sheldon Adelson, is one of the premier's close friends.

With his approval ratings diving and the outlook for his party in November's mid-term elections dimming, President Barack Obama shifted into campaign mode yesterday as the guest on The View, a daytime talk show with five co-hosts including Whoopi Goldberg and Barbara Walters. It went pretty well until the Jersey Shore question.

BSkyB put pressure on Rupert Murdoch to raise his takeover bid for the broadcaster yesterday by posting a strong set of annual results as its high-definition services continued to attract customers.

It's top of the posts time, again. America has featured heavily in this week's most popular offerings, from Hollywood to the right wing, with a few football-based entries scoring good positions also. ...

A Tamil refugee hunger striker today accepted substantial undisclosed damages over claims that he had secretly eaten takeaway burgers throughout his protest.

Significant improvements were made to the BBC's coverage of the devolved nations - but concerns remain about "misleading or confusing" news items, the BBC Trust found today.

The venue: Polpo, a Venetian-style restaurant. It's basically Italian tapas, which sounds a bit crazy but it's amazing. The staff take you through the menu in a really non-patronising way and it's only a minute's walk away from where I work.

Fashion editors normally make the headlines for their sharp tongues, whittled waists and dictatorial deskside habits, but the latest recruit at an American women's magazine has found herself in the spotlight because of the colour of her skin.

The venue: Polpo, a Venetian-style restaurant. It's basically Italian tapas, which sounds a bit crazy but it's amazing. The staff take you through the menu in a really non-patronising way and it's only a minute's walk away from where I work.

A season of sex is being planned by the BBC. Such an idea inevitably risks the wrath of moral guardians, as well as the snorts of critics who might think it sensationalist and unoriginal. So if you're going to do it, make sure you have the hot writer of the moment signed up for the project.

Sir Tom Stoppard is to work with BBC television for the first time in more than 30 years, making a five-hour epic tale of the Great War which he hopes will revive the reputation of one of Britain's finest novelists of the early 20th century, Ford Madox Ford.

The public's desire for the online coverage of stories from David Beckham's wardrobe to Catherine Zeta-Jones's dress disasters has seen advertisers flock to its site. The growth in online revenues is a welcome development for news services looking to make the internet pay, but some are questioning whether free sites can yet be self-sufficient.

The gap between the broadband speeds advertised by internet service providers and the actual speeds customers receive has widened in the past year, the communications watchdog revealed yesterday.

BBC bosses were today hoping to repeat the success of former One Show presenter Christine Bleakley by unveiling a replacement who even looks like her.

UK consumers are less willing to pay for online content than web users in other countries, according to new research. It spells bad news for publishers looking to boost revenues from the internet.

Last Friday, Richard Desmond bought the television channel Five for £103m and there was barely a murmur of protest in the media. Yet his purchase of the Daily Express in December 2000 created a terrific hullabaloo. Many thought that a man whose fortune was founded on pornography might not be a proper person to own a national newspaper. The Guardian had doubts, having produced evidence linking Mr Desmond with hardcore pornography. It discovered that a company owned by him had registered a website which promised live heterosexual sex, live lesbian sex as well as other images portraying a sex-crazed woman of 78, another who was pregnant, and another who went by the name of Anal Annie.

It seems the French are finding the Tour de France (ITV4 and British Eurosport) somewhat of a turn-off these days; 72 per cent of them under the age of 35 now claim to have no interest.

King of the TV sofa, Eamonn Holmes hogged headlines when he rolled off his cushions to complain about comics making fun of his girth. His namesake Sherlock also grabbed publicity with the launch of a new mystery series on the BBC tonight. Chalk and cheese or peas in a pod?