The Government is considering the idea of forcing newspapers to join a regulator, with financial penalties for those who refuse to. Read the full story

Wikipedia blackout protest threat

Imagine a world with no Wikipedia. You might not have to, if the online encyclopedia’s founder, Jimmy Wales, follows through on his threat to temporarily take the website down in protest of an act being discussed in Congress. Wales has said he may block access to the website, if those who contribute to Wikipedia agree with his motive. What is he protesting over? The Stop Online Piracy Act, which is being placed under scrutiny for the burden it will place on websites, search engines and ISPs. (Source: The Register)

Local TV areas revealed

The 20 towns and cities that will receive their own local TV channels have been revealed by Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt. Brighton, Birmingham, London and Manchester are among the lucky few that will act as a trial for Hunt’s localised service, which hopes to provide locales with news and programming relevant to them. Hunt promises his idea will bring a “fundamental change” to programming in the country; many remain unconvinced. (Source: Press Gazette)

Trinity Mirror kicking journos in the teeth

The National Union of Journalists has labelled Trinity Mirror’s decision to freeze pay for a year a “kick in the teeth” for journalists. The freeze is essentially a real-term pay cut, given the rate of inflation. NUJ secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: “It’s time Trinity Mirror sat down with the NUJ for national discussions on the group’s future strategy, so all options for 2012 can be discussed.” (Source: NUJ)

Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has avoided publicly backing BSkyB chairman James Murdoch, suggesting that Murdoch Jr’s popularity is waning within both the company and the Government. Read the full story

The culture secretary has said that he wants Google to “make life more difficult” for filesharing websites by blocking them, or downgrading their prominence in search results. Read the full story

News Corporation has withdrawn its offer to spin off Sky News, prompting culture secretary Jeremy Hunt to confirm that the BSkyB deal will now be subject to an investigation by the Competition Commission, which will delay the final decision for at least six months. Read the full story

News Corp’s ambitions to buy out BSkyB have been dealt a temporary blow after the department for culture, media and sport confirmed it had delayed its decision to permit the deal. Read the full story

The escalating nature of the phone hacking scandal has put renewed pressure on Jeremy Hunt to block Rupert Murdoch’s attempts to buy out BSkyB. Read the full story

Jeremy Hunt has confirmed that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation will be allowed to takeover BSkyB, after hammering out “a robust set of undertakings” on plans for Sky News to be ‘spun off’.

Read the full story