The Institute for Public Policy Research today published a report calling for the establishment of independent, platform-neutral, content-led regulation, with broadcast regulator Ofcom acting as "the backstop authority". In its report, Life after Leveson: The challenge to strengthen Britain's diverse and vibrant media, author Nigel Warner calls for any new regulatory system, as has been considered by Lord Justice Leveson, to "be seen in light of the digital convergence which is uniting text, audio and video content onto the same platforms".

The Guardian is making a song and dance about its web traffic having surpassed that of BBC News in the U.S. That is a significant milestone for the UK publisher in the battle to win American hearts, minds, eyeballs - and advertisers. And it's partly true... The Guardian's October unique web visitors reached 11.8 million, surpassing BBC News' 10.8 million visitors... But those figures are only for the BBC News site (bbcnews.com). The main BBC homepage (bbc.com), which includes a BBC News feed that is one of the site's main fixtures, had 15.5 million visitors - still 3.7 million more …

Top Gear Magazine has worked with independent global mobile marketing company Somo to produce its latest app, the Top Gear Aston Martin One-77 Special. The free-to-download iPad app showcases the GBP1.2 million hypercar that Aston themselves declared would only ever be driven by billionaire's lucky enough to acquire one of the 77 ever made. The app was only made possible when Abdulla Al Ketbi invited Top Gear over to test his personal One-77.

Another Google service has again been blocked in Russia. Part of the Blogspot weblog host has been added to the country's new state "blacklist" of sites with prohibited content, reports Vedomosti. The blocked IP address has nobbled Chrome browser fonts and plugins and is an especially wide ruling affecting the whole service for what is likely only a handful of alleged breaches. But could Google soon find the commercial sector, as well as the state, freezing it out of Russia... ?

ITN has launched its new "Truthloader" YouTube channel, broadcasting citizen journalism reports on a range of subjects, including untraceable drug deals and UFOs over Jerusalem. Truthloader is part of the raft of original channels on the Google-owned video sharing network. Citizens, eyewitnesses and online campaigners from all around the world can submit reports to Truthloader. All the reports will be curated by social media experts and journalists at ITN Productions, before they are published on the channel.

Mobile users in the UK will have to pay careful attention to which mobile operator's services they subscribe to if they still want free Wi-Fi services on the London Underground next year. Virgin Media has announced that it will start charging GBP2 for one day's Wi-Fi access on the underground train service in the UK capital, while a weekly pass will cost GBP5 and a monthly pass GBP15. Nevertheless, it seems that only O2 UK and 3 UK users will be subjected to these charges.

Warc, the marketing intelligence service, expects global advertisingspend to increase by 4.3% in 2012 and by 4% in 2013 according to its latest international ad forecast. That's a downgrade compared to its June report of 0.5% and 1.5% respectively. The reduction in forecast growth for advertising spend next year (based on 12 major markets) is a reflection, says Warc, of the continued uncertainty about the global economy.

As the financial crisis came to reign over Greece, big-name print newspapers began shutting their doors. News sites struggled to find resources. Journalists went unpaid. Print ad revenues continued to drop. TV channels slashed their budgets. Still, Greek people want news; their country is on the world agenda. So Greek journalists and media professionals have continued working.

Subscribers to the service will have access to live events and highlights of past events direct from their smartphone app. Members were able to try out Times+ Talks Monday night for an exclusive sold-out Caitlin Moran event. Marketing director for The Times and The Sunday Times, Suzi Watford, commented: “Times+ events sell out fast but with Times+ Talks we aim to let even those who can't attend the event join in.

Dr. Neil Thurman and Anna Walters, from City University London's Journalism School, have just published a study into liveblogging, which is becoming the default format for covering major breaking news stories, sports events, and scheduled news - like the U.S. presidential election - on the web. Here, Thurman explains their appeal to readers.