For the record 08/12/2008

"The silly songs, the spectacle, the grandiose foolishness of it all. Let's hope that... Royaume Uni will gather its proper share of 'douze points' and bring the grand prix home," Sir Terry Wogan gets misty-eyed after quitting Eurovision

Gambo'll fix it

What a fine mess we're in – but not to worry, the Great Gambo is here to sort it all out. The News International Visiting Professor of Broadcast Media – that's Paul Gambaccini to you and me – is to address the future of the industry in a series of four lectures at St Anne's College, Oxford. The opening Gambo gambit on 27 January is a plea to embrace change, bizarrely headed "Face the Strange". After that (3 February), the radio veteran turns his attention to the influence of YouTube and MySpace in an address entitled "So you wanna be a rock'n'roll star".

M&Ms in space

There may still be untapped audiences out there, and National Geographic Channels seems to know more about this than most, having just launched its "idents" into space. NatGeo sent an advertising team up into zero gravity above the Nevada Desert, taking with them such vital adland survival tools as jelly cubes and M&Ms. There's obviously more money left in media than we all thought.

Who's evil now?

After the Karen Matthews trial, let us not forget that 'Cutting Edge' special documentary, 'The Family's Story', made for Channel 4 by October Films and shown in March. The programme, said October Films, captured "every parent's worst nightmare, a missing child, while finding themselves at the centre of a media storm". The doc team camped out at Karen's home in the period up to and including daughter Shannon being found, and portrayed those awful tabloid journalists as the real villains of the piece, with reporters being filmed as they pressed poor mum for her story. That's the same mum described by police as "pure evil", the architect of what the CPS called "a cynical plot".

Editors for brekky

Charles Saatchi is on a publicity drive. He's organised "An Editors' Breakfast" this week to coax senior journalists to his Saatchi Gallery, offering a private viewing of the New Art from China exhibition. Among those expected are Alexandra Shulman of 'Vogue' and Lorraine Candy of 'Elle'.