Matthew Norman's Media Diary

FOR THE Prime Minister-in-waiting, or, more accurately perhaps, the PM-de-facto, a major test is close at hand. Nominally deciding whether to oppose Rupert Murdoch's share in ITV falls to Trade Secretary Alastair Darling. But since Mr Darling calls the Treasury at 7.25am each day for instruction on which shoe to put on first, we can be sure that the decision is Gordon Brown's.

Quite a decision it is, too. In the short term, Mr Murdoch's acquisition of almost a fifth of ITV shares was designed to prevent NTL and Richard Branson moving in to build ITV into a potential revenue threat to Sky. However, Mr Murdoch not being one of life's natural sleeping partners, the longer-term ambition must be to take control of the network, and open a mighty Sky-ITV axis against the BBC. More Murdoch influence over the media is, as the Office of Fair Trading's preliminary report suggests, against public interest and the principle of free competition to which Gordon is so attached.

However, at the economic forum in Davos, Mr Murdoch reportedly lobbied Gordon directly, doubtless dangling The Sun's electoral support in front of him, and the temptation to sell his soul to this turkey-necked old Faust speaks for itself. But the notion of Rupert Murdoch controlling over half of all TV revenue (he already has 40 per cent with Sky), let alone steering ITV's political coverage towards the standards operated by Fox, is disturbing.

What a conundrum for Gordon, then. To ignore the OFT's advice - or, just as bad, fix an inquiry in News Corporation's favour - and allow Murdoch an even more pulverising stranglehold over television than on the print media? Or risk the guaranteed loss of The Sun's support? His handling of this semi-covert attempted takeover of ITV will tell us a great deal about the next PM. We hope, without a shred of confidence, that he passes the test.

If Mr Murdoch does get control of ITV, one consolation might be a Fox-style show for Jon Gaunt of The Sun. Last week, Gaunty was the victim of confusion. In one item he reported that his mate Dave, a bankrupt ex-publican, delivers groceries for a living for which "I admire him, I respect him, and I'm proud of him". But, three inches to the left, he had this sparkling rebuke for Russell Brand. "Judging by Brand's Brits flop, the only thing he'll be delivering soon is a pizza." Much as I admire Gaunty's work, he must decide whether he views being a delivery boy as a source of friendly pride, as with Dave, or a sign of abject failure, as with Russell. There's little more dispiriting than a Sun columnist who doesn't know his own mind.

Speaking of which brings us to his colleague Kelvin MacKenzie, who is still unsure whether he should apologise for his coverage of Hillsborough when editing The Sun. Kelvin's latest problem isn't indecisiveness, but the failure to control his natural effeteness. He declined to contribute to a BBC3 documentary called History of the C Word, he reveals, on moral grounds. It's good to know he is out there, fighting to reverse the tide of foul language - and how could we hold this debate without reference to King Canute; or Cnut as it's alternatively spelled - but prissiness must have its limits. No one likes a prig.

OVER AT The Times, Alastair Campbell applauds himself as the Tories' saviour. "I have it from no fewer than three sources," he informs us, in a rare foray on to the comment page, "that what I wrote about the Conservative leadership election had a profound effect on David Cameron and George Osbourne." What he wrote was the startlingly original advice to cleave to the political centre ground, and Ali cites David and George themselves as two of the sources about the extent of his influence on Tory thinking.

I hope I'm wrong here, but I wonder whether he might be the victim of flattery, in much the same way as Paul Johnson succumbed to Tony Blair's schmoozing and wrote so many admiring puffs on the Daily Mail's op-ed page. Still, anything that boosts Ali's fragile self-regard can't be entirely a bad thing.

ONCE AGAIN, meanwhile, dapper Times editor Robert Thomson shows the balls to go it alone. Of the vaguely serious titles, his alone ran a supportive leader about Mr Blair withdrawing troops because everything's going so spiffingly in Basra. Any criticism of the decision, so this impressive précis of the PM's speech to the Commons the previous day informed us, "represents the triumph of prejudices over evidence". I've said it before and I'll say it again: if Robert doesn't snag a peerage in the Blair Lavender List, it will be the most blatant act of ingratitude of even his premiership.

A TRIO of rousing hats-offs, finally, to outstanding BBC journalists. The first part of Michael Cockerell's three-part documentary on the Blair years was beautifully made and compelling even by his standards. In his latest interview with Mr Blair, John Humphrys struck the perfect tone throughout - that of a bemused but good-natured philosophy don desperately seeking signs of intelligence in a peculiarly dim and obtuse fresher. And great to see Martha Kearney, bafflingly overlooked for both BBC political editor and Desert Island Discs, finally rewarded with the plum job of presenting Radio 4's The World At One.

m.norman@independent.co.uk