Saturday 5 July, 2014
Alan Rusbridger must have gone home with a feeling of satisfaction last night, the Guardian having beaten News International 2-0. It took an early lead with the denouement of the hacking trial and the jailing of Andy Coulson. But that had been expected; the killer goal was scored by the birds, the bees and Caitlin Moran. While the Times trumpets its irresistible Tour de France wallchart and the appallingly named Eat! section, its star columnist is sitting pretty atop the Guardian titlepiece. The Times puts up a bit of a fight, sandwiching her between a glass of red wine and a win-a-bike promo, but when it comes to the battle of the magazines it turns into a rout, with six pages of Ms Moran on sex in the Guardian against one about the possibility of being a Tory in the Times.
In the battle of the court cases Rolf Harris is the clear winner, with five splashes and a puff against two pictures for Coulson and Co. The Times and Star mention neither on their covers, sex in Magaluf and Princess Eugenie of France, as opposed to the one of York, are deemed more saleable - sorry, should that have been newsworthy?
See the rest of the week's front pages and more jaundiced comments here
In the battle of the court cases Rolf Harris is the clear winner, with five splashes and a puff against two pictures for Coulson and Co. The Times and Star mention neither on their covers, sex in Magaluf and Princess Eugenie of France, as opposed to the one of York, are deemed more saleable - sorry, should that have been newsworthy?
See the rest of the week's front pages and more jaundiced comments here
Friday 4 July, 2014
Time to play catch-up: nearly everyone is chasing the Times's splash from yesterday with the airport alert over undetectable "stealth" bombs - a good 2nd edition change from the Thunderer on Wednesday night.
Interesting to note the different priorities - are we more exercised by the fear of being blown up or by having to wait a little longer to board our holiday flight? What is certain is that it's caught the attention in a way most bomb scares don't, only the Guardian and Independent seem unperturbed.
The alert even makes the fronts of the Sun and Star, which both splash on the sorry tale of a girl being filmed doing things she might regret while the worse for wear on holiday in Magaluf. The Sun labels it an "investigation", though it's hardly that. A few soundbites pulled from Twitter, a riffle through the cuts and a bit of outrage from the local ayor; pop in a map and some advice from Deidre and, bob's your uncle, a ready-made spread. I'd like to hear Nick Davies's take on this interpretation of the word "investigation".
The Star's version differs in that it says the girl did her stuff for a £2 bottle of cava - the Sun says her reward was a £4 cocktail called a holiday and even lists the ingredients - and it also invites readers to go to its website to view the viral video. This may be taking cross-reffing and linking too far.
In the sober world of the Guardian a Labour election victory seems assured, giving its overly definite "State to bid..." heading. This does, of course, depend on Labour getting into power, so a conditional tense might have been more appropriate. Still, nationalisation of the railways is always a winner.
Finally, it's double catch-up for the Mail with that puff on Murray, picking up where the Telegraph left off yesterday. More of this on the blog here.
Interesting to note the different priorities - are we more exercised by the fear of being blown up or by having to wait a little longer to board our holiday flight? What is certain is that it's caught the attention in a way most bomb scares don't, only the Guardian and Independent seem unperturbed.
The alert even makes the fronts of the Sun and Star, which both splash on the sorry tale of a girl being filmed doing things she might regret while the worse for wear on holiday in Magaluf. The Sun labels it an "investigation", though it's hardly that. A few soundbites pulled from Twitter, a riffle through the cuts and a bit of outrage from the local ayor; pop in a map and some advice from Deidre and, bob's your uncle, a ready-made spread. I'd like to hear Nick Davies's take on this interpretation of the word "investigation".
The Star's version differs in that it says the girl did her stuff for a £2 bottle of cava - the Sun says her reward was a £4 cocktail called a holiday and even lists the ingredients - and it also invites readers to go to its website to view the viral video. This may be taking cross-reffing and linking too far.
In the sober world of the Guardian a Labour election victory seems assured, giving its overly definite "State to bid..." heading. This does, of course, depend on Labour getting into power, so a conditional tense might have been more appropriate. Still, nationalisation of the railways is always a winner.
Finally, it's double catch-up for the Mail with that puff on Murray, picking up where the Telegraph left off yesterday. More of this on the blog here.
Thursday 3 July, 2014
Good and bad news for older people: the Express says incomes are higher, but if you have a dodgy hip or knee you may not be able to get out and about to enjoy it as you should, since many hospitals discriminate against over-65s when it comes to surgery. And if you are a cancer patient in the Potteries you might have Richard Branson's team treating you. It's not really privatisation as the Guardian puts it, but contracting out. It'll still be free for the patient, but it's a big specialty to hand over to a private group. On the other hand, Virgin or whoever may be able to pay higher salaries and attract better staff for the benefit of NHS patients.
The Times and Mirror are both on guard for terrorism. The Times made an early switch from a so-so story about child benefits for migrants whose families live abroad to an alert that means airport security is to be stepped up again, the Mirror focuses on the Cardiff jihadi who asks: "Is the UK afraid I come back with the skills I've gained?" Well, we'd certainly have preferred it if he'd gone on to medical school and used the skills he would have gained there.
There's too much carelessness around for the Mail and Independent's taste. Ian Burrell's exclusive in the Indie says that confidential military information, including the names of SAS and SBS members, had been loaded onto a memory stick and given to someone who shouldn't have seen it. The details, gathered for a Panorama documentary shown last year, was leaked by a researcher who was concerned about material collected for a completely different programme. The Mail is meanwhile going after Leon Brittain, demanding to know what happened to the dossier compiled after Geoffrey Dickens passed child abuse allegations to him 30 years ago. He can't remember. The Mail is not alone in finding this an unsatisfactory answer.
The Sun's X Factor story is a worrying one for different reasons. The "suspect" has been questioned, but not charged, about an alleged rape. He can apparently sing a bit and got through an X Factor audtion. None of the programme's production team or judges knew that he had been questioned; he was treated entirely on his merit. So what is the point of this story? Are we supposed to wonder "which is the maybe possibly rapist" when it comes to the next stage of the competition? Or is someone suspected of a crime they may or may not have committed supposed to suspend their lives until they are charged/convicted/jailed/freed? If this person did rape someone the police seem to be on his case and he will presumably go through the legal process. That in itself would seem likely to rule him out of continuing to pursue this route to his pop star dreams. And if not...
Remember, this is being published by a newspaper with a number of staff who are complaining about their lives being put on hold while they wait for the CPS to make up its mind about charging them with offences thrown up by the hacking scandal.
Moving swiftly on...Murray duly got knocked out of Wimbledon yesterday, but naturally Kate's state of tension while watching the match is more important. Unless you're the Telegraph, in which case the way to go is to insinuate that girlfriend Kim was to blame for his defeat. Murray did a bit of swearing (understandable) and was at one point heard to say "five minutes before the ******* match". The Telegraph relates that as he said this, Murray looked up at the players' area, where his mother, girlfriend and trainer were sitting.
Ah, three women. We can see where it's going with this: one of them had a go about him not putting his sweater in the laundry basket, or told him his backhand was rubbish, or demanded to know when he'd last washed behind his ears. Whatever it was, it was one of those women - rather than the man on court - who cost him his crown and Kim is the prime suspect because she is pictured walking alone through the gates of Wimbledon with her head down.
No shit Sherlock. Makes you proud to be a journalist.
The Times and Mirror are both on guard for terrorism. The Times made an early switch from a so-so story about child benefits for migrants whose families live abroad to an alert that means airport security is to be stepped up again, the Mirror focuses on the Cardiff jihadi who asks: "Is the UK afraid I come back with the skills I've gained?" Well, we'd certainly have preferred it if he'd gone on to medical school and used the skills he would have gained there.
There's too much carelessness around for the Mail and Independent's taste. Ian Burrell's exclusive in the Indie says that confidential military information, including the names of SAS and SBS members, had been loaded onto a memory stick and given to someone who shouldn't have seen it. The details, gathered for a Panorama documentary shown last year, was leaked by a researcher who was concerned about material collected for a completely different programme. The Mail is meanwhile going after Leon Brittain, demanding to know what happened to the dossier compiled after Geoffrey Dickens passed child abuse allegations to him 30 years ago. He can't remember. The Mail is not alone in finding this an unsatisfactory answer.
The Sun's X Factor story is a worrying one for different reasons. The "suspect" has been questioned, but not charged, about an alleged rape. He can apparently sing a bit and got through an X Factor audtion. None of the programme's production team or judges knew that he had been questioned; he was treated entirely on his merit. So what is the point of this story? Are we supposed to wonder "which is the maybe possibly rapist" when it comes to the next stage of the competition? Or is someone suspected of a crime they may or may not have committed supposed to suspend their lives until they are charged/convicted/jailed/freed? If this person did rape someone the police seem to be on his case and he will presumably go through the legal process. That in itself would seem likely to rule him out of continuing to pursue this route to his pop star dreams. And if not...
Remember, this is being published by a newspaper with a number of staff who are complaining about their lives being put on hold while they wait for the CPS to make up its mind about charging them with offences thrown up by the hacking scandal.
Moving swiftly on...Murray duly got knocked out of Wimbledon yesterday, but naturally Kate's state of tension while watching the match is more important. Unless you're the Telegraph, in which case the way to go is to insinuate that girlfriend Kim was to blame for his defeat. Murray did a bit of swearing (understandable) and was at one point heard to say "five minutes before the ******* match". The Telegraph relates that as he said this, Murray looked up at the players' area, where his mother, girlfriend and trainer were sitting.
Ah, three women. We can see where it's going with this: one of them had a go about him not putting his sweater in the laundry basket, or told him his backhand was rubbish, or demanded to know when he'd last washed behind his ears. Whatever it was, it was one of those women - rather than the man on court - who cost him his crown and Kim is the prime suspect because she is pictured walking alone through the gates of Wimbledon with her head down.
No shit Sherlock. Makes you proud to be a journalist.
Wednesday 2 July, 2014
One paper begs scientists to start experimenting, another begs them to stop. It's health and medicine almost all the way this morning. The Times tells us that David Cameron is trying to save the world from superbugs that antibiotics can't kill and has enlisted the banker Jim O'Neill to get the pharmaceutical industry motivated. Seems a strange combination of saviours, but the move has the blessing of the Wellcome Trust, so we shall see. On the other side of the coin, the Independent reports on the maverick who has recreated the 2009 flu virus at an American university to explore what genetic changes it went through to become the version that killed half a million people. All hail the i for its swift change of Monty Python picture which clashed badly with its dementia story. The Mail doesn't explain why half million people are being denied this 'cheap' drug, which would actually cost £1.2m a year; approval is apparently awaited from a medicines regulatory authority, but we aren't told why beyond "red tape", and there is no comment from the agency.
The Express is back with its old favourite, statins. This time they have been given the "final" seal of approval...until the next scare, and the next all-clear, and the next warning, ad infinitum. It's Express heaven today with Madeleine suspects being questioned - but by Portuguese not British police, though our cops are there. The Star meanwhile promises the "first pics of suspects" and then gives us Kate, Maddie, Rolf Harris and Maria Sharapova.
The departure from Wimbledon of Nadal and Sharapova provides assorted pictures, including a nice pairing in the Guardian, but SubScribe prefers the Times's photograph of Nadal's conqueror Nick Kyrgios, particularly the neat trick of having the picture run "through" the index nibs at the bottom.
Out on a limb, the Sun does a good job on Abu Bakr, the head of the Iraqi fighters Isis.
The Express is back with its old favourite, statins. This time they have been given the "final" seal of approval...until the next scare, and the next all-clear, and the next warning, ad infinitum. It's Express heaven today with Madeleine suspects being questioned - but by Portuguese not British police, though our cops are there. The Star meanwhile promises the "first pics of suspects" and then gives us Kate, Maddie, Rolf Harris and Maria Sharapova.
The departure from Wimbledon of Nadal and Sharapova provides assorted pictures, including a nice pairing in the Guardian, but SubScribe prefers the Times's photograph of Nadal's conqueror Nick Kyrgios, particularly the neat trick of having the picture run "through" the index nibs at the bottom.
Out on a limb, the Sun does a good job on Abu Bakr, the head of the Iraqi fighters Isis.
Tuesday 1 July, 2014
That's some photograph. Without the protective glasses and the wide smile, cuddly Rolf Harris, he of the wobbleboard and decorator's paintbrush, is gone. In his place is someone quite sinister. Even without knowing about his crimes, there is something about the curl of the upper lip, the cold eye, the unusually symmetrical eyebrows and the perfectly groomed hair and beard that makes this man unapproachable, someone we don't want to know. No surprise, then, that it features on seven of the ten fronts - even the one with the woman bursting out of her bikini top.The car shots are a misjudgment, but the Independent? Ah, the Independent. That Dorian Gray portrait is in a different league. This is how he saw himself 12 years ago. So he could confront himself on canvas; if only he could have done it in real life.
As with the choice of picture, there were three approaches to the headlines: the label, the newsy and the talking head. The Mirror and Independent do best here, and the Sun has a good angle. The Telegraph makes the best fist of the long count; the Mail starts well then falls away, while the Guardian falters on the top line and wastes the second. Of course he faces jail, it sounds so limp. The same applies to the Express - but for the paper to devote the whole of its front (bar puffs) to a single live news story that has nothing to do with health or immigration is a cause for celebration.
As for the three that didn't splash on Harris, they were mistaken. A poll on the Scottish referendum is a worthy enough enterprise - far too little has been written about it in general editions - but since this was commissioned by the Times, the paper could presumably control the publication date. The findings were interesting but not earth-shattering, and if the Times thinks Rolf Harris is just a sleazy popular market story it is wrong. The same applies to the i, which does not, you can be sure, have a cure for the NHS. And as to the Star, well....
As with the choice of picture, there were three approaches to the headlines: the label, the newsy and the talking head. The Mirror and Independent do best here, and the Sun has a good angle. The Telegraph makes the best fist of the long count; the Mail starts well then falls away, while the Guardian falters on the top line and wastes the second. Of course he faces jail, it sounds so limp. The same applies to the Express - but for the paper to devote the whole of its front (bar puffs) to a single live news story that has nothing to do with health or immigration is a cause for celebration.
As for the three that didn't splash on Harris, they were mistaken. A poll on the Scottish referendum is a worthy enough enterprise - far too little has been written about it in general editions - but since this was commissioned by the Times, the paper could presumably control the publication date. The findings were interesting but not earth-shattering, and if the Times thinks Rolf Harris is just a sleazy popular market story it is wrong. The same applies to the i, which does not, you can be sure, have a cure for the NHS. And as to the Star, well....
Monday 30 June, 2014
Prince Charles's evangelism for homoeopathic remedies and green living is common knowledge; now we are told he is in favour of grammar schools - and has been busy telling ministers that they should change their education policies. This is stretching his remit, as the Mail points out. The Telegraph, however, takes great heart from the disclosure and quotes a Tory MP as saying that the Prince speaks common sense when politicians miss the point. For the Guardian (not on page 1), the news of the Prince's meetings with David Blunkett, Peter Hain and others is ammunition in its long battle for the right to see what he has been writing in his frequent letters to politicians. The central concern, of course, is his neutrality when he ascends the Throne. But is SubScribe alone in doubting that he will ever be crowned King? If royalists want to secure the Monarchy, a good strategy would be to skip a generation and go straight to the popular William.
Elsewhere, we can see what a sorry set of politicians we have, with Cameron desperately trying to kiss and make up with Juncker, having spent the past month rubbishing him, and Miliband desperately trying to kiss and make up with business while his party mutters and mumbles about his weirdness and dead hand. All good there, then.
The Sun's front is a mess, though Josie Cunningham's bump is of passing interest to those who read her Sunday Mirror interview a while back in which she said she was going to have an abortion so that she could appear on Big Brother. Why is this woman getting so much publicity? I hate the fact that I now know who she is. She seems well out of BB, though, what with the giant rats...
Thank heavens for Dolly Parton.
Elsewhere, we can see what a sorry set of politicians we have, with Cameron desperately trying to kiss and make up with Juncker, having spent the past month rubbishing him, and Miliband desperately trying to kiss and make up with business while his party mutters and mumbles about his weirdness and dead hand. All good there, then.
The Sun's front is a mess, though Josie Cunningham's bump is of passing interest to those who read her Sunday Mirror interview a while back in which she said she was going to have an abortion so that she could appear on Big Brother. Why is this woman getting so much publicity? I hate the fact that I now know who she is. She seems well out of BB, though, what with the giant rats...
Thank heavens for Dolly Parton.
Sunday 29 June, 2014
Summer's here, the silly season beckons and we're already into biting stories. Usually they involve dangerous dogs and young children or postmen, but Luis Suárez has given it a new twist. The People's splash is pretty horrible, but almost as horrible is the promise of "more pictures inside". That's exactly what I wouldn't want. The Sunday Times continues the "kicking Miliband while he's down" game, only this is a different variation: kicking Miliband while Cameron's down, and the Telegraph is still upset about Juncker. The Observer, Express and Mail all go for the reliable health service fallback. Name and shame GPs? Is that wise?
And after all that nonsense, there stands the elegant Independent on Sunday that no one will buy with an excellent story well presented. We've had a week (well three years, actually) of the Press coming under fire, but take a look at this set of front pages and see what people apparently do want to read and what they don't want.
Sad, isn't it?
Click here for last week's front pages and mini reviews
And after all that nonsense, there stands the elegant Independent on Sunday that no one will buy with an excellent story well presented. We've had a week (well three years, actually) of the Press coming under fire, but take a look at this set of front pages and see what people apparently do want to read and what they don't want.
Sad, isn't it?
Click here for last week's front pages and mini reviews
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