Katharine Viner has been appointed the editor in chief of "The Guardian," the first woman to run the newspaper in its 194-year history. Viner, currently deputy editor of "The Guardian" and editor in chief of "Guardian" US, will take up the role in the summer from incumbent Alan Rusbridger, who is to stand down after 20 years. The Scott Trust, the ultimate owner of the "The Guardian," made the announcement last Friday after members of the board conducted final interviews with two shortlisted candidates.

"The Independent" and "Evening Standard" owner ESI Media is looking to revamp all its sites, not only to enhance the reading experience, but also to render the viewability concerns of its ads redundant in its bid to sell all online space programmatically. The media owner believes an online overhaul, not tougher viewability metrics, is the antidote to rising advertiser fears that their ads may not get seen in the rush for automated trading. Publishers are wary of ad rates falling as viewability becomes a bigger bargaining chip for spenders.

Tesco's secret media review continues to move along on pace, with the 20+ year incumbent, IPG's Initiative, believed to be competing against WPP's MediaCom and Publicis Groupe's ZenithOptimedia. WPP's Maxus is believed to have been dropped from contention after initially expressing an interest. The Tesco business currently handled by Initiative is complex and far-reaching, involving multiple data sources, analytics and econometrics across the retailer's vast business in addition to traditional media planning and buying.

Young people should be given the opportunity to understand marketing, says McDonald's marketing manager for families, Marie Emery. At an event designed to enable young people to interact with brands, Emery stressed the importance of inspiring young people to work in the creative industries. Just last week, Google's head of commercial marketing UK & Ireland, Nishma Robb, also claimed that "marketing is not considered a career option because kids don't understand what it is".

Uber, the minicab app, is to embark on a public relations hiring spree in Europe as part of efforts to restore its battered reputation. It is understood the San Francisco-based company aims to hire spinners across the continent, to be controlled from an expanding European hub in Amsterdam. They will plead Uber's case in the media in the growing number of regulatory disputes in which it is embroiled with local and regional governments. They will also seek to stop the company from speeding from one public relations jam to another, as it has in recent months.

Most marketing is annoying to consumers. Only by embracing the "democratisation of creativity" can brands ensure they remain relevant to their audiences. So was the conclusion of many speaking at the WFA Global Marketer Conference in Marrakech last week. Brand and agency leaders said in order for brands to become more relevant to consumers, they need to give up some control of their content and make experimentation and learning, rather than ideas of success or failure, the goals of innovation.

There were fears in some quarters that the broadcaster was overly reliant on the show. However, many insiders at Channel 5 were in no doubt about the value that "Big Brother" brings to the broadcaster. In 2014, Channel 5 was the largest commercial free-to-air network to grow its audience share, including among 16- to 34-year-olds and ABC1 viewers. The last series of Celebrity Big Brother broadcast in January proved to be its most popular yet, attracting an average audience of 3.1 million per episode and an 11.4% share of viewing.

The Association of Online Publishers (AOP) has worked with some of the UK's biggest publishers to pool inventory to form a marketplace capable of reaching more than 54 million unique visitors -- a move it hopes will convince advertisers to spend brand-building budgets programmatically. Telegraph Media Group, Time Inc and Dennis Publishing are just some of the media owners hoping to woo marketers with the prospect of being able to find and buy premium inventory through the hub.

The importance of data protection passes no one by in this technology-driven age, but given the contradictions and confusion surrounding new European data laws, marketers would be forgiven for complaining that they don't know where they stand. The EU's long awaited General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was supposed to have passed into law by now, but European legislators have not yet even agreed on the final text of the bill, let alone how individual cases should be policed.

Insurance Web site Comparethemarket is to replace mobile phone operator EE as the new provider of weekly free cinema tickets to millions of Brits. The comparison site -- famous for its advertising campaign starring a collection of meerkats -- is to launch 'Meerkat Movies' next month. The launch will allow comparethemarket's 5m customers access to 2-for-1 cinema tickets every Tuesday or Wednesday. The deal, signed with national cinema body Cinema First, comes a month after EE's 'Orange Wednesdays' ended.