The front pages
Saturday 8 March, 2014
It's International Women's Day and the Independent and the i mark the occasion by homing in on how the Chancellor's tax policies affect women. They conclude that they haven't been friendly, although whether it's fair to say there's a war on women is questionable.
A mwah mwah kiss for Prince Harry from Cressida Bonas at Wembley Arena has delighted the Sun. This was the pair's first "PDA" (public display of affection) and doubtless we shall now endure the usual royal wedding speculation. What's the betting at least one tabloid has a date pencilled in by the end of next week?
The Express is back on the immigrant trail - and so is the Star. The big question is, will the great white shark be living on benefits or stealing jobs?
A mwah mwah kiss for Prince Harry from Cressida Bonas at Wembley Arena has delighted the Sun. This was the pair's first "PDA" (public display of affection) and doubtless we shall now endure the usual royal wedding speculation. What's the betting at least one tabloid has a date pencilled in by the end of next week?
The Express is back on the immigrant trail - and so is the Star. The big question is, will the great white shark be living on benefits or stealing jobs?
Friday 7 March, 2014
Stephen Lawrence and the inquiry into police corruption dominate, as we'd expect, but none of the front pages gets it quite right and the Independent gets it spectacularly wrong. This isn't the moment to puff yourself in a long 'talking' splash headline. No surprise that the Sun and the Star were more interested in Max Clifford. The Mirror again shows that it is alert to dangers facing teenagers with its Jagerbomb story, which was used much smaller inside by everyone else. The Express? What can you say? Not a line on Lawrence, but room for a puff on immigrants. In fact Lawrence doesn't feature in the paper until page 28.
SubScribe has more to say about that here
SubScribe has more to say about that here
...and some political opinions...
Paul Routledge (Mirror) Liberal democrats gathering in York today should ask themselves: "What is the point of Nick Clegg?" He doesn't win, he doesn't convince, he doesn't lead, he doesn't inspire and he fannies around like a teenager who's just discovered sex.
Isabel Hardman (Telegraph) The Lib Dems' strategists think it’s perfectly possible to claim credit for the tasty bits of government while complaining about the Tory gristle – but whether the voters will swallow it, we’ll have to wait and see.
Ian King (Times) Many voters seem to have no objection to punitive taxes on others in a way that they would have in the recent past. Miliband's "additional" tax and the LibDems' "mansion tax" can only win favour because too many people no longer believe they have a chance of getting on in life. If they felt their aspirations could become a reality they would be hostile to taxes on "the rich" because they would still hope to be rich themselves one day.
Stephen Pollard (Express) Unite is not going to hand over the money from its political fund for nothing. It won’t be explicit of course. There will be no list of Unite policy demands drawn up and but in the real world union leaders like Len McCluskey don’t give millions of pounds and expect nothing in return.
Isabel Hardman (Telegraph) The Lib Dems' strategists think it’s perfectly possible to claim credit for the tasty bits of government while complaining about the Tory gristle – but whether the voters will swallow it, we’ll have to wait and see.
Ian King (Times) Many voters seem to have no objection to punitive taxes on others in a way that they would have in the recent past. Miliband's "additional" tax and the LibDems' "mansion tax" can only win favour because too many people no longer believe they have a chance of getting on in life. If they felt their aspirations could become a reality they would be hostile to taxes on "the rich" because they would still hope to be rich themselves one day.
Stephen Pollard (Express) Unite is not going to hand over the money from its political fund for nothing. It won’t be explicit of course. There will be no list of Unite policy demands drawn up and but in the real world union leaders like Len McCluskey don’t give millions of pounds and expect nothing in return.
Thursday 6 March, 2014
What a very British day for our newspapers: what we eat, what we watch on television, the weather and our view of those foreigners who insist on coming to live here.
Immigration
The Telegraph manages to get three out of four, consigning the demise of BBC3 to a page 3 basement. It splashes on a bizarre speech to be given today by James Brokenshire, who became immigration minister after Mark Harper resigned over his 'illegal' cleaner. Having read it half a dozen times, SubScribe thinks that Brokenshire is saying that we have too many immigrants and that's because the middle class want cheap plumbers and businesses want cheap labour. This apparently means there are not enough jobs for ordinary working class folk. The minister's view is also completely at odds with the findings of a Whitehall review that make the Independent splash. As the headline states, it found that immigrants had a negligible impact on British workers.
Unhealthy eating
The Telegraph, Mail and Express all give prominence to a pair of reports on sugar and high-fat foods; the first two highlighting 'sugar bad' while the Express takes the optimistic view on 'fat good'. If it wasn't going to harden our arteries, the best advice would be to take all food health stories with a mug of salt, as SubScribe suggested a couple of years ago, but the Mail has gone all-out following its new year assault on sugar with a 32-page glossy supplement on the subject.
The weather
After the longest autumn in history, we seem to be jumping not straight to spring but to summer. The Star, Express, Mirror and Telegraph are all promising us a "mini heatwave" this weekend and still warmer weather by the end of next week. The Telegraph says "Britons will finally enjoy unseasonably mild temperatures, thanks to an area of high pressure". SubScribe is based in East Anglia, which is often warmer than other parts of the country. But "finally"? How often have you had to scrape the ice off the windscreen? Some of us have barely turned on the heating this "winter" and just think what those weeds are going to do with a bit of sun on that damp ground. Forget the barbie, best get out the hoe and, if your conscience allows it, the glyphosate.
How hot is it going to be then? 17, say the Mirror and Telegraph; 19, says the Star; 64 (that's 18 in new money) says the Express. Remember the Express always uses Fahrenheit for getting warmer and Celsius for getting colder, so that readers never freeze or swelter at 27.
And how does that compare with the rest of the Europe? Hotter than Ibiza, says the Mirror; hotter than Greece says the Star; hotter than the Greek islands and the South of France, says the Telegraph; hotter than St Tropez says the Express. The Mail and the Times both put the story inside and both tell us we'll beat Greece. It's good to know that some traditions are still being upheld. Six national newspapers and not an original thought between them. For a masterclass on the art of how to write a weather story, have a read of this.
A different agenda
The Times takes an isolated road to meet the new head of the British Veterinary Association, who has a pop at the way animals are slaughtered for halal meat. Nothing like ruffling a few feathers when you start a new job. The photograph is of two people we don't know, wearing sunglasses. I wondered for a moment if the woman was Victoria Beckham, but couldn't place the man. Turns out the picture is of Elif Yavuz and Ross Langdon, who died in the Westgate terror attack in Nairobi in September. Today's paper runs a page 13 interview with Langdon's mother, in which she talks of her loss and how wonderful her son was. Just as any mother would. It's quite touching, and we must feel for her, but her words are unremarkable and it is difficult to work out why the story is in the news pages at all.
Another Watergate
The Sun has an extraordinary splash about a Derbyshire primary school that required Year 6 boys to wear a label round their necks if they wanted to go to the loo. Like a sweetshop owner afraid of pilfering, the head had decreed that boys should be allowed in the cloakroom only one at a time because when more than one went together they left a mess and were liable to misfire. What a gift for the weekend columnists! Unsurprisingly parents complained, including the father of the labelled boy on the front page, and the 'pilot scheme' has been aborted. Thank goodness for that. But a good story and a good headline.
The Sun should also be feeling pleased at the other tabs following up its Darren Gough-TOWIE splash from yesterday, but the Check 'em breast cancer campaign seems to be faltering. Yesterday it trumpeted endorsements from Holly Willoughby, Lorraine Kelly and Fearne Cotton. Today we're back to a quartet of topless Page 3 girls - including the blessed Rosie, 22, from Middlesex - plus Kym Marsh, Sarah Beeny, Dermot O'Leary and its own agony aunt Deidre Sanders. Maybe it's saving the big names for the weekend.
Immigration
The Telegraph manages to get three out of four, consigning the demise of BBC3 to a page 3 basement. It splashes on a bizarre speech to be given today by James Brokenshire, who became immigration minister after Mark Harper resigned over his 'illegal' cleaner. Having read it half a dozen times, SubScribe thinks that Brokenshire is saying that we have too many immigrants and that's because the middle class want cheap plumbers and businesses want cheap labour. This apparently means there are not enough jobs for ordinary working class folk. The minister's view is also completely at odds with the findings of a Whitehall review that make the Independent splash. As the headline states, it found that immigrants had a negligible impact on British workers.
Unhealthy eating
The Telegraph, Mail and Express all give prominence to a pair of reports on sugar and high-fat foods; the first two highlighting 'sugar bad' while the Express takes the optimistic view on 'fat good'. If it wasn't going to harden our arteries, the best advice would be to take all food health stories with a mug of salt, as SubScribe suggested a couple of years ago, but the Mail has gone all-out following its new year assault on sugar with a 32-page glossy supplement on the subject.
The weather
After the longest autumn in history, we seem to be jumping not straight to spring but to summer. The Star, Express, Mirror and Telegraph are all promising us a "mini heatwave" this weekend and still warmer weather by the end of next week. The Telegraph says "Britons will finally enjoy unseasonably mild temperatures, thanks to an area of high pressure". SubScribe is based in East Anglia, which is often warmer than other parts of the country. But "finally"? How often have you had to scrape the ice off the windscreen? Some of us have barely turned on the heating this "winter" and just think what those weeds are going to do with a bit of sun on that damp ground. Forget the barbie, best get out the hoe and, if your conscience allows it, the glyphosate.
How hot is it going to be then? 17, say the Mirror and Telegraph; 19, says the Star; 64 (that's 18 in new money) says the Express. Remember the Express always uses Fahrenheit for getting warmer and Celsius for getting colder, so that readers never freeze or swelter at 27.
And how does that compare with the rest of the Europe? Hotter than Ibiza, says the Mirror; hotter than Greece says the Star; hotter than the Greek islands and the South of France, says the Telegraph; hotter than St Tropez says the Express. The Mail and the Times both put the story inside and both tell us we'll beat Greece. It's good to know that some traditions are still being upheld. Six national newspapers and not an original thought between them. For a masterclass on the art of how to write a weather story, have a read of this.
A different agenda
The Times takes an isolated road to meet the new head of the British Veterinary Association, who has a pop at the way animals are slaughtered for halal meat. Nothing like ruffling a few feathers when you start a new job. The photograph is of two people we don't know, wearing sunglasses. I wondered for a moment if the woman was Victoria Beckham, but couldn't place the man. Turns out the picture is of Elif Yavuz and Ross Langdon, who died in the Westgate terror attack in Nairobi in September. Today's paper runs a page 13 interview with Langdon's mother, in which she talks of her loss and how wonderful her son was. Just as any mother would. It's quite touching, and we must feel for her, but her words are unremarkable and it is difficult to work out why the story is in the news pages at all.
Another Watergate
The Sun has an extraordinary splash about a Derbyshire primary school that required Year 6 boys to wear a label round their necks if they wanted to go to the loo. Like a sweetshop owner afraid of pilfering, the head had decreed that boys should be allowed in the cloakroom only one at a time because when more than one went together they left a mess and were liable to misfire. What a gift for the weekend columnists! Unsurprisingly parents complained, including the father of the labelled boy on the front page, and the 'pilot scheme' has been aborted. Thank goodness for that. But a good story and a good headline.
The Sun should also be feeling pleased at the other tabs following up its Darren Gough-TOWIE splash from yesterday, but the Check 'em breast cancer campaign seems to be faltering. Yesterday it trumpeted endorsements from Holly Willoughby, Lorraine Kelly and Fearne Cotton. Today we're back to a quartet of topless Page 3 girls - including the blessed Rosie, 22, from Middlesex - plus Kym Marsh, Sarah Beeny, Dermot O'Leary and its own agony aunt Deidre Sanders. Maybe it's saving the big names for the weekend.
....and more opinions on Ukraine
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Peter Oborne (Telegraph) This week a remarkable stateswoman has taken a massive step towards placing the Russian/German partnership back at the heart of Europe – an achievement that it has traditionally been an objective of British foreign policy to prevent. But then, unlike Britain, both Angela Merkel’s Germany and Putin’s Russia still have a clear vision of their role on the world stage.
Seumas Milne (Guardian) The dangers of escalating foreign intervention are obvious. What is needed is a negotiated settlement for Ukraine, including a broad-based government in Kiev shorn of fascists; a federal constitution that guarantees regional autonomy; economic support that doesn't pauperise the majority; and a chance for people in Crimea to choose their own future. Anything else risks spreading the conflict. Owen Jones (Independent) Democracy, human rights and peace are universal, global causes. They are continually threatened by Great Powers. That is why all of us - whether in Moscow, London, Beijing or |
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Washington – need to fight for a new global order that prevents Great Powers simply throwing their weight around. An old cause, yes: but all of our futures depend on it.
Edward Lucas (Sun) History will judge Putin harshly. He had the chance to make his country rich, modern and respected. Instead it faces economic, political and demographic disasters. Nicholas Kristof (International HeraldTribune) Shrewd reporting about the Ukraine crisis comes from The Onion, which declared that American reaction is evenly divided — between the “wholly indifferent” and the “grossly misinformed.” In the latter category, it seems, belong the chest-thumpers who blame the Crimea catastrophe on President Obama. David Aaronovitch (Times) Sanctions should be imposed to bring the Russians to heel. We don't need to do business in Russia - not on these terms. |
Wednesday 5 March, 2014
President Putin's tactics are causing anxiety well beyond Ukraine - the heavies know the situation on the Russian border is serious, but they are running out of things to write on the news pages - although the OpEds are still full to brimming with opinions. The Independent still gives the whole front page to Crimea, but goes badly awry with the heading. A song pun isn't appropriate - especially when the Sun has already played the same tune with North Korea.
The Telegraph reduces Ukraine to three pars on its rather ungainly front. Is it trying to be the Express with the health scare splash - or the Mail with its white on picture puff for a so-so page 3 story about yet another spy who was the inspiration for George Smiley. It doesn't work.
After that we have two pairs of twins: the Mail and Express with Keira Knightley's tiny waist and the Sun and Star on Michael Le Vell. If Corrie Kev thought his troubles were over when that jury brought in its Not Guilty verdict, he was very much mistaken. SubScribe has an uncomfortable feeling about this protracted coverage.
Finally, we know we don't need to open the Star to read about '2nd royal baby on the way'. If it were true it wouldn't be just a puff and the main story certainly wouldn't be on page 9.
The Telegraph reduces Ukraine to three pars on its rather ungainly front. Is it trying to be the Express with the health scare splash - or the Mail with its white on picture puff for a so-so page 3 story about yet another spy who was the inspiration for George Smiley. It doesn't work.
After that we have two pairs of twins: the Mail and Express with Keira Knightley's tiny waist and the Sun and Star on Michael Le Vell. If Corrie Kev thought his troubles were over when that jury brought in its Not Guilty verdict, he was very much mistaken. SubScribe has an uncomfortable feeling about this protracted coverage.
Finally, we know we don't need to open the Star to read about '2nd royal baby on the way'. If it were true it wouldn't be just a puff and the main story certainly wouldn't be on page 9.
...and the view from the comment pages...
Richard Littlejohn (Mail) No one wants to live in a country where the police arrest people in the middle of the night and then try to keep it a secret. That way lies totalitarianism. The covert nature of the arrest of the Downing Street aide Patrick Rock was in stark contrast to the high-profile treatment meted out to ageing celebrities by the Jimmy Savile Squad and middle-ranking newspaper executives caught up in the phone-hacking scandal. Where were the TV cameras, the high-profile ‘perp walk’ and off-the-record briefings when Mr Rock had his collar felt?
Mary Riddell (Telegraph) Inequality is surely the right message for Labour, but redressing imbalances must go far beyond the domestic. With the balance of power shifting to the Pacific, the Middle East in flux and our ties with Europe fraying, Ed Miliband’s party must also look outwards and rebuild its internationalist spirit. Any less ambitious course could leave him several Lego bricks short of building an election victory
Nigel Farage (Independent) Changes in British politics have been so profound that it makes no sense for coverage to be based on patterns of electoral support that pertained four years ago. Ukip is a major player now, but a glance at the Liberal Democrat by-election figures and their national polling shows that they are in serious trouble. The Liberal Democrats know that they are in trouble, too.
Matthew Norman (Independent) If you are nervous about an extended lifetime on prescription drugs and ill-suited to the more mystical antidotes to stress, there are three things to avoid: 1 reading about any medical research; 2 ever leaving the house and exposing yourself to the hell of other people; 3 anything else that could be filed under the catch-all header of “Life”.
Read more from Editorial Intelligence here
Mary Riddell (Telegraph) Inequality is surely the right message for Labour, but redressing imbalances must go far beyond the domestic. With the balance of power shifting to the Pacific, the Middle East in flux and our ties with Europe fraying, Ed Miliband’s party must also look outwards and rebuild its internationalist spirit. Any less ambitious course could leave him several Lego bricks short of building an election victory
Nigel Farage (Independent) Changes in British politics have been so profound that it makes no sense for coverage to be based on patterns of electoral support that pertained four years ago. Ukip is a major player now, but a glance at the Liberal Democrat by-election figures and their national polling shows that they are in serious trouble. The Liberal Democrats know that they are in trouble, too.
Matthew Norman (Independent) If you are nervous about an extended lifetime on prescription drugs and ill-suited to the more mystical antidotes to stress, there are three things to avoid: 1 reading about any medical research; 2 ever leaving the house and exposing yourself to the hell of other people; 3 anything else that could be filed under the catch-all header of “Life”.
Read more from Editorial Intelligence here
Tuesday 4 March, 2014
All hail the Mirror for the outstanding page of the day. A strong design and a strong splash headline complimented with the Osars selfie and a pleasing picture of Prunella Scales and Timothy West. It's good all the way through inside, too, with a much better go at Ukraine than yesterday. The obligatory Oscars gowns spread is sleek and has the chaps in it as well. It also has the best heading in The Academy Awardrobe...has no one written that before? Seems impossible, but it's new to SubScribe. Hats off to the whole team Mirror.
Even though the Mirror's page 1 selfie shot was tiny, it worked better than anyone else's. Both the Guardian and the Mail ruined the effect of the combined puff/main picture with ugly reverse panels down the left. With the greatest respect to Peter Bradshaw, Hadley Freeman and Jess Cartner-Morley, their names - at least in this format - aren't going to sell any papers. Much better to have taken the other puff line 'Why Hollywood loves a selfie' and made that a strapline. Yes, the picture would have had to go deeper. But it didn't have to go above the titlepiece.
The Mail did the same thing with the wob, and what spoilsports -"the truth about.." ok, it was a stunt. Three million people enjoyed it. Where's the harm - and who, other than the Mail in its story about product placement, mentioned Samsung?
The two Independent papers chose the wrong main picture, charming as it was, and the i compounded the error by plonking the selfie on top of Lupita Nyong'o. A good choice of splash, though, compared with its big sister. Would anybody pick that paper up at a news stand?
Well they might if the only alternative were the Telegraph, which is so bland as to be invisible. For the second day running it has given Ukraine a double-column splash with all the pizzazz it affords a Sunday survey on lettuce eating. The paper seems to have put on its slippers and settled down in the armchair by the fire. The lack of splash impact is exacerbated by the photograph of two old people in beige. Yes, they are two of our best-loved actors who also happen to be parents to one of the most talented actors of his generation, but this picture is a turn-off.
Only the Express does worse on this story with the excruciating heading "Timothy West My wife Prunella Scales is battling alzheimers". We've had it drummed into us that print headlines don't work online. The same applies in reverse; readers will not be coming to this page through a search engine.
The Telegraph might be bland, but at least it is telling its readers the news. The Sun is telling readers about itself. It is starting a campaign in tandem with a charity called CoppaFeel! (I kid you not, that's how it's spelled, complete with screamer) to encourage women to check themselves for breast cancer. The presentation is a deliberate challenge to the No More Page 3 campaign and the logo is awful. The paper may say it is bringing an important health issue into people's homes and minds, but this isn't the way to do it. It looks cheap and tatty. Read more on this here
Meanwhile the newspaper that usually goes for pictures of women bursting out of their bikinis has produced the second-best front of the day. Pistorius is a good splash for the Star, and it has even got the Ukraine in the puff. A bit odd, though, to have Irina Shayk (Cristiano Ronaldo's girlfriend) rather than a 'real' Oscar person as the picture. Maybe it was so they could run the cute kicker 'back of the net'.
Even though the Mirror's page 1 selfie shot was tiny, it worked better than anyone else's. Both the Guardian and the Mail ruined the effect of the combined puff/main picture with ugly reverse panels down the left. With the greatest respect to Peter Bradshaw, Hadley Freeman and Jess Cartner-Morley, their names - at least in this format - aren't going to sell any papers. Much better to have taken the other puff line 'Why Hollywood loves a selfie' and made that a strapline. Yes, the picture would have had to go deeper. But it didn't have to go above the titlepiece.
The Mail did the same thing with the wob, and what spoilsports -"the truth about.." ok, it was a stunt. Three million people enjoyed it. Where's the harm - and who, other than the Mail in its story about product placement, mentioned Samsung?
The two Independent papers chose the wrong main picture, charming as it was, and the i compounded the error by plonking the selfie on top of Lupita Nyong'o. A good choice of splash, though, compared with its big sister. Would anybody pick that paper up at a news stand?
Well they might if the only alternative were the Telegraph, which is so bland as to be invisible. For the second day running it has given Ukraine a double-column splash with all the pizzazz it affords a Sunday survey on lettuce eating. The paper seems to have put on its slippers and settled down in the armchair by the fire. The lack of splash impact is exacerbated by the photograph of two old people in beige. Yes, they are two of our best-loved actors who also happen to be parents to one of the most talented actors of his generation, but this picture is a turn-off.
Only the Express does worse on this story with the excruciating heading "Timothy West My wife Prunella Scales is battling alzheimers". We've had it drummed into us that print headlines don't work online. The same applies in reverse; readers will not be coming to this page through a search engine.
The Telegraph might be bland, but at least it is telling its readers the news. The Sun is telling readers about itself. It is starting a campaign in tandem with a charity called CoppaFeel! (I kid you not, that's how it's spelled, complete with screamer) to encourage women to check themselves for breast cancer. The presentation is a deliberate challenge to the No More Page 3 campaign and the logo is awful. The paper may say it is bringing an important health issue into people's homes and minds, but this isn't the way to do it. It looks cheap and tatty. Read more on this here
Meanwhile the newspaper that usually goes for pictures of women bursting out of their bikinis has produced the second-best front of the day. Pistorius is a good splash for the Star, and it has even got the Ukraine in the puff. A bit odd, though, to have Irina Shayk (Cristiano Ronaldo's girlfriend) rather than a 'real' Oscar person as the picture. Maybe it was so they could run the cute kicker 'back of the net'.
...and the OpEd view of Ukraine...
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Mikheil Saakashvili (FT) If Mr Putin succeeds he will go after the Baltic countries next. If they want to prevent this, the EU and Nato need to act now. They should consider the full range of options, from economic sanctions to military deterrence. These measures will not come cheap. But doing nothing would ultimately prove far more costly.
Steve Richards (Independent) it is crazy that at a time of economic and international fragility the UK contemplates pulling out of the EU, and the sooner this particular ambiguity is resolved the better. But in the multi-faceted complexity of Ukraine, where an elected president has been deposed and protesters in Kiev have diverse objectives for a divided country, pragmatic flexibility is the only stance available to the UK and the one that makes most sense Gideon Rachman (FT) For the past decade, Mr Putin and his entourage have often used the rhetoric of the cold war while enjoying the fruits of globalisation. Now they may need to be faced with a choice. They can |
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have a new cold war. Or they can have access to the riches of the west. They cannot have both.
Justin Webb (Times) Barack Obama’s best weapon could be economic - using the fracking boom to kill Russia’s energy industry. Russian gas switched off. It's not exactly shock and awe but it might be Obama's best, and most popular, move Edward Lucas (Mail) It would be easy for Putin to play the Crimean card in the Baltic, stirring up ethnic tensions and saying only Russian intervention could stabilise matters. That would present Nato with the gravest challenge of its existence. Forestalling Russian aggression would require a strong and immediate response or Putin would assume that we are not serious about defending the Baltics either. Paddy Ashdown (Mirror) There has to be a cost for Russia's illegal acts. That cost is better exacted through economic and diplomatic means rather than military ones. Read more from Editorial Intelligence here |
Monday 3 March, 2014
Tabloids join the heavies on war footing
When the Sun does serious it does it well. A bare-chested Putin may not be everyone's choice of breakfast companion, but there's no mistaking the man's determination in this picture (even if it was to catch a fish). Inside the paper gives a decent explanation of what's going on in Ukraine with a Cluedo style graphic showing the territory at stake and the main players.
The Mirror, too, puts on its serious face and tries to bring the situation home to readers by focusing on the importance of the region to Europe's energy supply. The spread inside has the threat to kick Russia out of the G8 at the top of a reasonable wrap story and a tight bit of analysis from UCL's Andrew Wilson, but the pictures are not good and the map of pipelines not especially illuminating - basically they cross Ukraine from east to west.
The heavies, naturally, all went on Ukraine - although the Guardian did its best to disguise the fact with a Manchester City picture at the top of the page and a colour piece splash below the fold. You can see why when you look at the rivals: that word Ukraine is a turnoff - even coupled with the words 'brink of war', 'army bases, and 'peace at risk'. Somehow it feels too distant, while the two redtops make it more compelling by focusing on the personal (the Sun) and the domestic (the Mirror).
The tabs' other main concern is the continuing travails of Michael Le Vell - or Corrie Kev as the Star and Mirror would have it. The Sundays had him confessing to having used cocaine and there are follow-ups aplenty about how he has been summoned by the soap's bosses to explain himself or face being written out.
The subject of the Mail splash has also been summoned to a hearing that could cost her her job - and very interesting it is too. More of that later.
Oscars night is always tricky on account of the timing, so it's fun to see how the papers get round the fundamental problem of not knowing who won. The Telegraph gambled on Brit Chiwetel Ejiofor, nominated for best actor. Sadly for them, he was not among the winners, even though his film 12 Years a Slave cleaned up.The Times was luckier, plumping for Cate Blanchett, who duly returned with the best actress award. The Mail had also homed in on Blanchett, giving page 3 over to her pre-ceremony party outfits.
The Sun meanwhile triumphed not only with the grit of Putin, but with the glitz of Los Angeles, doing a quick change to get a good collection of red carpet pictures at the top of page one for the main run.
The Mirror, too, puts on its serious face and tries to bring the situation home to readers by focusing on the importance of the region to Europe's energy supply. The spread inside has the threat to kick Russia out of the G8 at the top of a reasonable wrap story and a tight bit of analysis from UCL's Andrew Wilson, but the pictures are not good and the map of pipelines not especially illuminating - basically they cross Ukraine from east to west.
The heavies, naturally, all went on Ukraine - although the Guardian did its best to disguise the fact with a Manchester City picture at the top of the page and a colour piece splash below the fold. You can see why when you look at the rivals: that word Ukraine is a turnoff - even coupled with the words 'brink of war', 'army bases, and 'peace at risk'. Somehow it feels too distant, while the two redtops make it more compelling by focusing on the personal (the Sun) and the domestic (the Mirror).
The tabs' other main concern is the continuing travails of Michael Le Vell - or Corrie Kev as the Star and Mirror would have it. The Sundays had him confessing to having used cocaine and there are follow-ups aplenty about how he has been summoned by the soap's bosses to explain himself or face being written out.
The subject of the Mail splash has also been summoned to a hearing that could cost her her job - and very interesting it is too. More of that later.
Oscars night is always tricky on account of the timing, so it's fun to see how the papers get round the fundamental problem of not knowing who won. The Telegraph gambled on Brit Chiwetel Ejiofor, nominated for best actor. Sadly for them, he was not among the winners, even though his film 12 Years a Slave cleaned up.The Times was luckier, plumping for Cate Blanchett, who duly returned with the best actress award. The Mail had also homed in on Blanchett, giving page 3 over to her pre-ceremony party outfits.
The Sun meanwhile triumphed not only with the grit of Putin, but with the glitz of Los Angeles, doing a quick change to get a good collection of red carpet pictures at the top of page one for the main run.
...and what the columnists have to say...
Nicholas Burns (FT) The struggle for Ukraine is shaping up to be the kind of contest for power with
the Russians that cold war US presidents managed so effectively.
Jonathan Steele (Guardian) Vladimir Putin’s troop movements in Crimea are of questionable legality under the terms of the peace and friendship treaty Russia signed with Ukraine in 1997. But their illegality is considerably less clear-cut than that of the US-led invasion of Iraq, or of Afghanistan.
Mary Dejevsky (Independent) Putin’s stance reflects a domestic consensus that, while Ukraine may be independent, its natural place is within Russia’s orbit and Moscow cannot just stand by while the West conspires to snatch it away
Dominic Lawson (Telegraph) This has been a desperate defeat for the Russian President. It is no gain for him to retain the use of Sevastopol – that had always been a given. Putin’s hopes of tying all Ukraine into a greater Russia have been dealt a fearful blow.
Charles King (International New York Times) the future of Ukraine is now no longer about Kiev’s Independence Square, democracy in Ukraine or European integration. It is about how to preserve a vision of Europe – and, indeed, the world – where countries give up the idea that people who speak a language we understand are the only ones worth protecting
Matthew Kaminsky (Wall Street Journal) The Kremlin’s claims about the importance of ethnic Russian identity and language are just a sideshow. What’s going on is pure power play.
SubScribe special: Read Tony Halpin on what's in Putin's mind
Read more from Editorial Intelligence here
Jonathan Steele (Guardian) Vladimir Putin’s troop movements in Crimea are of questionable legality under the terms of the peace and friendship treaty Russia signed with Ukraine in 1997. But their illegality is considerably less clear-cut than that of the US-led invasion of Iraq, or of Afghanistan.
Mary Dejevsky (Independent) Putin’s stance reflects a domestic consensus that, while Ukraine may be independent, its natural place is within Russia’s orbit and Moscow cannot just stand by while the West conspires to snatch it away
Dominic Lawson (Telegraph) This has been a desperate defeat for the Russian President. It is no gain for him to retain the use of Sevastopol – that had always been a given. Putin’s hopes of tying all Ukraine into a greater Russia have been dealt a fearful blow.
Charles King (International New York Times) the future of Ukraine is now no longer about Kiev’s Independence Square, democracy in Ukraine or European integration. It is about how to preserve a vision of Europe – and, indeed, the world – where countries give up the idea that people who speak a language we understand are the only ones worth protecting
Matthew Kaminsky (Wall Street Journal) The Kremlin’s claims about the importance of ethnic Russian identity and language are just a sideshow. What’s going on is pure power play.
SubScribe special: Read Tony Halpin on what's in Putin's mind
Read more from Editorial Intelligence here
Sunday 2 March, 2014
For last week's papers and a round-up of what the commentators had to say, please click here
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