Speedway Manager 2007

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This one's not a quango
In its quest to save some money, the Government this week went on a quangoshoot. It has been so long since this last happened that many might not remember the acronym means "quasiautonomous nongovernment organisation".
The Government has lined up quite a number of them for possible abolition or amalgamation. They include health, education, arts and broadcasting agencies, and to the astonishment of newspapers the Press Council.
The Government does not administer or pay for the Press Council, the newspaper industry does. It has been set up with an independent chairman and a majority of members from outside the industry to adjudicate on formal complaints. It is not "quasiautonomous", it is completely autonomous of Parliament and the Government.
There is no reason to fear that its inclusion in the Government's review of quangos in the cultural sector was anything more than a mistake. It is a consequence of how many institutions rely on public funds.
But newspapers do not rely on state support and hopefully never will,[url=http://www.holisteroutlet.cc]hollister france[/url]. It is important in a democracy that at least some news and cultural organisations are truly independent of the public purse and free to scrutinise and criticise those who hold the purse strings.
Newspapers survive on sales and advertising income. But as long as complaints receive fair consideration and papers meet their obligation to publish adverse findings, "self regulation" remains credible and an independent news media can be preserved.
Far from threatening this autonomy, the Government's review may be considering extending it to broadcasting.
Broadcasting does receive public money, particularly for television productions supported by the state agency NZ on Air. There are stateowned radio and television networks, and the state owns the airwaves that private broadcasters are obliged to lease.
Public funding does not make public broadcasters beholden to governments, any more than private broadcasters are beholden to advertisers. But a Governmentappointed regulator is a different matter. The appointees might be accurately reflecting broad public concern, but who can be sure?
It is not in the industry's interest to offend the taste of its audience or expose children to unsuitable material.
Independence, once lost, is hard to win back. Broadcasters who want to become selfregulating may have a rare opportunity in this quango cull. We wish them success.

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Paris Saint Germain holds Barcelona to a draw in Champions League
PSG's comeback the sixth time in its Champions League history it has come from behind to draw or win with three of those occasions against Barcelona was sealed by Blaise Matuidi's stoppage time strike.
It was a sweet and sour moment for the France international midfielder, as he will miss the return leg next Wednesday after picking up a booking.
It was the veteran midfielder's first champions League appearance since coming on as a substitute for AC Milan in a 40 drubbing by former club Manchester United at Old Trafford in 2010.
While PSG has to go back to 1995 for its last semifinal in the Champions League, after beating Barcelona in the quarterfinals, Bayern Munich was finalist as recently as last season when beaten by Chelsea in Munich in a penalty shootout.
Desperate to make amends for that, Bayern took a huge step towards the last four with a comfortable 20 win at home to Serie A champions Juventus.
A strike within the first minute by David Alaba and a secondhalf goal from Thomas Mueller gave it a handy advantage to take to Turin next Wednesday.
Barcelona had looked comfortable once Lionel Messi struck in the 38th minute in Paris. But his failure to appear for the secondhalf with a hamstring injury gave PSG hope it could turn it around and that it did when Zlatan Ibrahimovic levelled from an offside position with 11 minutes remaining.
However, Barca looked to have sealed victory when it restored its lead a minute from time with a Xavi Hernandez penalty but Matuidi struck to give the hosts a deserved draw.
Barcelona assistant coach Jordi Roura, who fielded the post match press conference even though coach Tito Villanova had returned to the dugout for the first time since returning from cancer treatment in New York, was frustrated at not coming away with the win.
"We have paid a heavy price because we lost Leo Messi and Mascherano, who could be out for four to six weeks. With Messi we shall see what the scans say on Wednesday," said Roura.
"There were also some questionable refereeing decisions and what is not up for debate is that we deserved better. Ibra's goal was certainly offside.
"I don't know what this will do for PSG's morale in that they twice came back but for us it is a favourable result,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]."
His question about morale may have been answered immediately by his PSG counterpart Carlo Ancelotti although he was proud of his players.
"I don't think it is a good result. I am proud of the players, their performances, their attitude and the courage they showed. However, I am not happy with the result," he said.
"We know there is still the return leg to play and we can certainly hope for a comeback," said Pirlo..