ITV's criticisms of radio signal a fault in its grip on reality.(Brief Article)

Well, hello there. It's me, the new, er, Claire Beale. Her fans should not despair, however. I'm temporary until she returns from maternity leave.

Let's start this week's column with a choice French phrase: plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose, which means the more things change, the more they stay the same. That's how it feels taking up this column again five years after handing it on to Ms Beale.

I'll explain. Back in 1991, when I first started writing about media, one of the big talking points was a concerted campaign by the national newspapers to woo advertisers off TV. Times were very tough (Norman Lamont was chancellor -- enough said) so stealing share from rival media was the order of the day. And good knockabout stuff it was too, involving Oxford statisticians and hidden cameras to prove that, when the telly was on, people weren't actually watching it.

All of which we knew anyway, although that didn't stop it being a constructive argument. Where it went wrong was when a) it became personal, and b) both sides started to criticise media buyers and clients for the way they spent their money. Doh! It's not clever to suggest your clients are stupid. Everybody dug in, and instead of a decent debate we had an argument that was like two deaf people shouting at each other by megaphone.

Ten years on, the cast of characters may have changed, but the issues haven't. This time round, the row has been sparked by trade ...