One of the great arguments missing from our time is about the effects of pop culture, which is now the dominant culture, on ourselves and our children. Of course, the argument doesn't seem to be missing. It seems, in fact, loud and ever-present. It tends to split the old from the young, the religious from the secular, the conservative right from the liberal left. You can read one side in the Daily Mail and the other in the Guardian. One side says: "Violent images breed real violence - stop it, censor it!" The other replies: "Prove it, prove it!" And that, usually, is as far as we get; a small bombardment and counter-bombardment from fixed positions, usually about a specific cause celebre (Natural Born Killers, Reservoir Dogs), in which the argument gets lost under the smoke-screen of ad hominem abuse. John Grisham v Oliver Stone; Old Fart, Sussex v Modish Wanker, N1.

Edward Helmore reports from Idaho on a meeting of the moguls

STEVEN SPIELBERG: The Unauthorised Biography by John Baxter HarperColli ns pounds 18

Its stars are rampaging wind funnels that toss cows and tractors in their wake - and it's spawning floods of imitators.

The media deal of the decade - the proposed marriage between Time Warner and Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) to create the world's largest media company - is the object of renewed speculation on Wall Street that it is about to fall apart.

Couch potatoes watch out - interactive TV is coming and it's all about participation. But will it live up to the hype? George Cole investigates

The bidding race has begun in earnest for the Hollywood lion - the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios and its library of film titles - and analysts believe that Polygram, the UK-quoted music and film conglomerate, is a leader among the suitors.

It is now a popular film format but with superior digital video disc technology on the way, its future is in doubt. By Helen Johnstone

There is something shocking about magazines. One wall of every newsagent is covered with them - lurid, gleaming, overlapping ranks promising a near-infinity of choice, each one with a cover subtly designed to seduce the woman, the angler, the car freak and, with curves, rubber, leather and lace along the top shelf, the man.

DAVID USBORNE

A WEEK IN BUSINESS

Camera action: Labour peer and US giant in pounds 225m theme park deal as Britons bid for awards

Boxing

Murdoch under pressure: Introduction by disgraced junk-bond dealer opened way to investment 8 BSkyB confronts OFT over Disney deal