Media Brief

I'm the BBC's media correspondent and this is my brief selection of what's going on.

Campaigners have welcomed a tribunal's finding that the BBC discriminated against TV presenter Miriam O'Reilly on the grounds of her age. The BBC reports Michelle Mitchell, director at Age UK, said the ruling sent out a "powerful signal" against age discrimination. The BBC has apologised to O'Reilly, 53, who was dropped from the rural affairs show Countryfile when it moved to a primetime slot.

The Daily Mail says the BBC was last night accused of 'social engineering' for sacking a female presenter because she was too old. The paper goes on to say that in a landmark ruling, a tribunal declared that senior executives were obsessed with 'ethnic diversity', 'rejuvenation' and attracting younger viewers when they decided to axe Miriam O'Reilly.

The Telegraph says Miriam O'Reilly is set to work for the BBC again. The article says the amount of compensation to be awarded will be decided at another hearing but speculates at a figure of around £100,000, including lost earnings and an amount for injury to feelings, is likely to be awarded.

The Guardian reports Richard Desmond's newspapers and magazines have been excluded from the system of press self-regulation. It follows the refusal of Desmond's company, Northern & Shell, to pay the fees to the body responsible for funding the Press Complaints Commission, known as PressBof. The titles include the Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star, Star on Sunday and OK! magazine.

BBC2 suffered the biggest drop in audience share of any of the five main channels in 2010 reports the Guardian. All suffered a fall in all-day audience share for the fifth year running as the popularity of multichannel television continued to grow. BBC2's share fell from 7.5% in 2009 to 6.9% in 2010. BBC1 fared best, its share falling 0.1% to 20.8% from 20.9% in 2009.

The BBC's newspaper review says Miriam O'Reilly's victory in her age discrimination case against the BBC makes many front pages. The Daily Mail hails her as the "woman who beat age bias at BBC". The Independent says the employment tribunal's ruling gives hope to older presenters and in the Guardian broadcaster Sheena McDonald celebrates her as an age champion.

Links in full

• BBC | Campaigners applaud Miriam O'Reilly's tribunal win
• Daily Mail | The woman who beat age bias at BBC
• Telegraph | Miriam O'Reilly set to return to BBC after winning tribunal case
• Guardian | Desmond's papers excluded from system of press self-regulation
• Guardian | BBC2 suffered biggest drop in audience share in 2010
BBC | Newspapers review

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