Media Talk for Friday February 16

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As Roy Greenslade reported on his blog, the News of the World's infamous story about the fanciful plot to kidnap Victoria Beckham pretty much unravelled in court this week. It would be funny if it wasn't so serious, with innocent people spending months in jail over something that amounted to little more than pub banter. Lawyer David Price gives us the background to the case.

Meanwhile, not only did Emily Bell go to a fancy media conference in New York last week, she also got an invite to the Brits. Obviously I'm not bitter that I was the only person at Media Guardian who didn't get an invite, and I am of course delighted that Emily got to spend Valentine's night in the company of her heart-throb, Russell Brand. In a desperate attempt to find a serious angle to all of this, we ask why British TV finds it so hard to do awards shows well.

We also hear from Jeff Jarvis on Google's copyright tussle with Belgian newspapers, we delve further into the Sky-Virgin battle, and John Plunkett gives us his take on The Verdict.

As ever, comments welcome below, or email us directly.

• Subscribe free to Media talk, via iTunes • Listen to Media talk on your computer • The podcast feed URL