´óÏó´«Ã½

I'm the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s media correspondent and this is my brief selection of what's going on.

´óÏó´«Ã½ licence-fee payers face a bill of over £900m to plug the deficit in the corporation's pension scheme - "enough to fund all of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two's programmes for two years". It quotes Emma Boon of the Taxpayers' Alliance: "With huge pressures on the licence fee at the moment, it is extremely worrying that so much money will go on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ pension fund deficit. It's a staggering sum of money."

the ´óÏó´«Ã½ pensions "black hole" is less than some had feared and has been reduced by "the controversial reforms agreed with the broadcasting unions last autumn". It quotes director general Mark Thompson: "The effect of the reforms is that half a billion pounds which would otherwise have had to be paid into the pension fund to reduce the deficit can instead be used on programmes and services for the public. Without the reforms, many hundreds of ´óÏó´«Ã½ jobs would have been lost."

Louise Bagshawe, an MP on the Culture Media & Sport Committee, is to complain about the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s "shocking" lack of coverage of the Fogel family's murder in an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, saying it reflects apparent bias against Israel. In the Daily Telegraph she writes "I found out about the barbaric attack not on ´óÏó´«Ã½ news, but via Twitter on Monday... a link to a piece by Mark Steyn entitled 'Dead Jews is no news'." She says the ´óÏó´«Ã½ chairman-designate Lord Patten denied to their committee that there was bias against Israel, .

the ´óÏó´«Ã½ is unlikely to bid to renew its contract to screen the National Lottery draw next year, as it seeks to cut costs.

the new ´óÏó´«Ã½ studios at Salford Quays will be used for their first live broadcast today - as school children take over the TV and radio airwaves. The ´óÏó´«Ã½'s annual School Report programme will be the first to broadcast live from MediaCityUK. Radio 5 Live, Radio Manchester, North West Tonight and Newsround will also broadcast live from the site.

Today schools across the country will be taking part in the annual . They will be creating video, audio and text-based news reports, and publishing them on their school's websites.

the first episode in the new series of Midsomer Murders. He says that after Brian True-May's comments on the all-white casting the programme now feels soiled.

Extensive coverage of George Osborne's Budget, and its consequences for households across the UK, dominates Thursday's newspapers. There are also many tributes to Dame Elizabeth Taylor, "the last, great Hollywood star", as featured in the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s newspaper review.

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