GMG, which owns the MediaGuardian.co.uk website, asked 120 influential digital practitioners to predict the brands, sites and people to watch this year.

The results are as follows:

• James Murdoch, Google, and Google Android were the ones to watch out for this year.
• Out of which sites are used most from the list given, the results were- Facebook, Gmail, business social net LinkedIn
• Respondents were also asked for big predictions for 2008, with 64% saying iTunes would start to offer rights-free music formats, 52% saying LinkedIn would be bought and 50% predicting that a Chinese web firm would break into the western market.
• All the social networking sites are expected to grow

Miss Jones' Cover Work


Neela in ER.

• The clip opens with Neela arriving at Tony's house in an over the shoulder shot which shows Tony but the back of Neela. This shot immediately gives authority to the male, Caucasian character because he is the character the audience first sees thus encouraging identification with him, more than Neela's character.

• As Neela enters the house, it is clear that this is a date -conventionally, the conversation is centered around the dinner they will be having tonight. A 'date' is a western idea, so that in this clip, Neela is shown to stand stationary by the door and only moves when Tony comes to get her. She is then offered a glass of wine, that in a medium shot she drinks in one go. What this shows is that Asians cannot fully mix with the western culture; the hesitancy personified by Neela is meant to represent Asians as aliens to western life.

• As the clip progresses, it becomes clear that behind this hesitancy is the worry of having sex. It is the stereotype that Asian girls hold very strong anti-sex ideologies (especially before marriage) that is being performed here.

• However, it can be argued that Neela is also showing signs of being sexually active through the mutual kiss.

• She drinks wine, thus modernising the traditions of the Asian female.

• Neela speaks fluent English with the absence of a heavy Indian accent.

To summarise, it is clear that the BBC and other broadcasters such as E4 are attempting to introduce ethnic minorities in their programmes but elements of stereotyping are still evident; Neela explicitly says she is not used to 'dating' which shows cultural ideologies where 'dating' is absent. The issue of sex is also addressed so that it conforms to the stereotype of Asian females as being sexually 'restricted.' There are however, a few minor developments; Neela could be seen as sexually active, successfully adapting to the western culture to represent her as the new, "Western Asian."

MP's attack the BBC for failing to show the breakdown of its annual costs.

The media, culture and sports select committees in H.O.C scrutinised the BBC's annual report for failing to show how much they pay their top employees. These include Terry Wogan, Chris Evans and Jonathan Ross.

They argued back saying it would "cause commercial prejudice to the BBC" and that it was a breach of the employees confidence but it was also unclear why issues of data protection only applied to actors and presenters and not the BBC's trustees and executive board.

The committees hope that in this year's annual report the BBC will rectify these problems so that there is a layer of transparency and accountablity from the broadcaster.

The Government drops plans for junk food ad ban.

The proposed legislation outlining a pre-9pm ban on junk food advertising has been droped by the government who see this as invaluable.

Firstly, there are the huge effects on the industry, costing as much as £211m in TV ad revenue and then Brown's other options; his new obesti strategies include advertising and creating awareness.

With evidence supporting a 25% rise in children watching TV after 9pm, especially on non terrestrial channels, the ban seems useless anyhow.