The front pages
Saturday 8 February, 2014
Time to batten down the hatches, Charles Dickens is heading this way - and you know how grim his view of life is. Think of Magwitch squelching out of the marshes, well that'll be us this weekend.
It's too late for preventive measures in Somerset, of course, and the locals gave Cameron and Smith a hearty earbashing when they finally showed their faces yesterday.
For the Star, every storm is a killer storm, for the Mail, every misfortune is an opportunity (to bash foreigners), and for the Express it's time to shout 'We're not crying wolf. It's really coming. Honestly. Believe us.'
The Guardian and Times steer clear and try to raise a Saturday smile with the winter Olympics, where the snow is welcome.
Back in Somerset, the families and farmers whose property is flooded might take comfort from remembering that Magwitch turned out to be a benefactor. Promises were made by the unwelcome (and unapologetic) guests yesterday. Money might be forthcoming. Pip pip.
It's too late for preventive measures in Somerset, of course, and the locals gave Cameron and Smith a hearty earbashing when they finally showed their faces yesterday.
For the Star, every storm is a killer storm, for the Mail, every misfortune is an opportunity (to bash foreigners), and for the Express it's time to shout 'We're not crying wolf. It's really coming. Honestly. Believe us.'
The Guardian and Times steer clear and try to raise a Saturday smile with the winter Olympics, where the snow is welcome.
Back in Somerset, the families and farmers whose property is flooded might take comfort from remembering that Magwitch turned out to be a benefactor. Promises were made by the unwelcome (and unapologetic) guests yesterday. Money might be forthcoming. Pip pip.
Friday 7 February, 2014
Eight out of ten prefer RoacheWilliam Roache dominates the front pages, making the splash for five papers and the picture for eight.
The Mirror is the most elegant, although it could have done without that little bit of text and the puff picture looks as though it's part of the main photograph. The Star looks unusually clean, even with all that puffery, and then you realise there isn't a woman bursting out of a bikini. Who'd have thought it would make a man in his 80s its main image? That idea was clearly unpalatable for the Sun, which split the front between Roache and its latest fave, Nicole Scherzinger. The cobbled street is a big mistake because it looks like yet another flood picture. No doubt someone was really pleased with themselves for Keep Ken and Corrie On, but it's as misguided as the Carlsberg slogan it used for Michael Le Vell's acquittal. The Independent's hamper is odd with the heading at the side - I thought at first glance that it was about England cricket. Inside, the leader gives the Press a pat on the back for its restrained coverage of the trial. Nice as that is, it's probably a bit early for such self-congratulation. Elsewhere, there's a jolly Olympic picture for the Guardian to accompany an important story that is finally, thank goodness, gaining traction. |
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A taste from the comment pagesFraser Nelson (Telegraph) The coalition is over. The hard choices have been made and Cameron doesn't need the Lib Dems any more
Stephen Pollard (Express) Lib Dems have acted as a brake on measures that might have created jobs. Vince Cable is a business secretary who doesn't seem to want business to make money Polly Toynbee (Guardian) Hurricane of cuts outlined by Institute for Fiscal Studies will cause devastation for millions for many years Paul Johnson, Director of Institute for Fiscal Studies (Times) Political rows mask consensus over rather a lot of tax and spending policy The Telegraph is being a bit naughty with its splash. The flood defences that were 'delayed for birds' were discussed last month. If they had been approved at that meeting, it's stretching credulity to suggest that they would have been completed in time to save the Dawlish railway this week.
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Thursday 6 February, 2014
It comes to something when three national newspapers devote almost their entire front pages to a story that is patently untrue. The idea of that old rogue Clinton and Elizabeth Hurley was clearly irresistible - or maybe it was just that they didn't want to waste the chance of using that heading. Most of them did it in some form somewhere, although the Telegraph restrained itself and waited until page 5 and the Mail until page 11, having puffed the 'story' on the front. The Express and Star both blew it, ah well, never mind. It's good to be different from the crowd. On to real news and the Times and Guardian are both pushing hard on female genital mutilation. The Times reports that the first prosecution is imminent - the practice was outlawed in 1986 - and the Guardian has joined up with change.org to petition Michael Gove to do more to make teachers aware of what's going on. Picture of the day by a mile is on the front of the Telegraph. Oh yes, don't forget to put an extra pot of yoghurt in the shopping trolley at the weekend.
Wednesday 5 February, 2014
Was there a dressing-up party in Not Fleet Street last night? They're all stealing each other's clothes. The Mirror's heart-wrenching front on elephant poaching in Kenya is backed up by an inside spread linking the illegal ivory trade with terrorism. It is timely as London is to host a wildlife summit next week. It is also a little way behind the Independent papers, which chose charities fighting the trade in Kenya for its Christmas appeal. It reports today that it has collected £400,000 - the most they have raised with any appeal.
The Times is wearing one of the Express's favourite outfits, a combination of house prices and royalty. It also catches the Express habit of stretching the headline rather beyond the level warranted by the story. Addressing a Lords committee about housing stock, George Osborne predicted that the country would still not have built enough houses in ten years' time. He also had a pop at mostly Tory nimbys who resisted development of areas near them. The upshot of this was that prices were likely to continue to rise for another decade.
The price of butter has risen constantly for the past 50 years, but there isn't a 'butter boom'. It's inflation. There is nothing in this story to justify the emotive word 'boom', with it connotations of dinner party bragging and gazumping. This is essentially a story about the failings of the planning system and the difficulties people have in being able to afford a home.
The Express has meanwhile followed the Sun in putting Sally Bercow on the front - although in rather more sedate pose and with her husband. The story inside is predictably tut-tuttish, where most of the other papers are quite kind to the Speaker's wife. Not so, the Sun, which has a Groundhog front and more 'isn't she a naughty girl' stuff inside.
The Times is wearing one of the Express's favourite outfits, a combination of house prices and royalty. It also catches the Express habit of stretching the headline rather beyond the level warranted by the story. Addressing a Lords committee about housing stock, George Osborne predicted that the country would still not have built enough houses in ten years' time. He also had a pop at mostly Tory nimbys who resisted development of areas near them. The upshot of this was that prices were likely to continue to rise for another decade.
The price of butter has risen constantly for the past 50 years, but there isn't a 'butter boom'. It's inflation. There is nothing in this story to justify the emotive word 'boom', with it connotations of dinner party bragging and gazumping. This is essentially a story about the failings of the planning system and the difficulties people have in being able to afford a home.
The Express has meanwhile followed the Sun in putting Sally Bercow on the front - although in rather more sedate pose and with her husband. The story inside is predictably tut-tuttish, where most of the other papers are quite kind to the Speaker's wife. Not so, the Sun, which has a Groundhog front and more 'isn't she a naughty girl' stuff inside.
Tuesday 4 February, 2014
For richer, for poorer...The Express celebrates moves towards an automatic annual rise in the state pension, the Mirror suspects Iain Duncan Smith of planning to attack travel, fuel and TV licence concessions.
In sickness, in health...The Guardian reports that we're eating and drinking the wrong stuff and that this will cause a huge increase in cancer cases over the next 20 years. Should we switch to raw turtle and seagull blood, the diet apparently responsible for the relative good health of Jose Salvador Alvarenga after more than a year adrift in the Pacific? The Times is a little suspicious.
Forsaking all callers...The Mail gives BT a bashing for abandoning people who ring directory inquiries, leaving them to ring up huge bills. Yes we knew it was a premium line. But did you know it was £2.39 a minute after the first minute? And yes, we knew there was a charge if we let them put us through to the number. But did you know that it was £2.39 for the entire call? Jeepers.
Now for the photographs...The Duchess of Cambridge with Prince George graces the front of the Telegraph in a picture taken by her dad to illustrate a story about a holiday shot of the Duchess of Cambridge with Prince George gracing the pages of a celebrity magazine, a picture taken by a paparazzo. But who wants to look at the pretty princess when we can smirk at/with Sally Bercow caught by the Sun in a clinch with a man rather taller and darker than her Speaker husband. Needless to say, she came out fighting on Twitter. Attagirl, Sal!
In sickness, in health...The Guardian reports that we're eating and drinking the wrong stuff and that this will cause a huge increase in cancer cases over the next 20 years. Should we switch to raw turtle and seagull blood, the diet apparently responsible for the relative good health of Jose Salvador Alvarenga after more than a year adrift in the Pacific? The Times is a little suspicious.
Forsaking all callers...The Mail gives BT a bashing for abandoning people who ring directory inquiries, leaving them to ring up huge bills. Yes we knew it was a premium line. But did you know it was £2.39 a minute after the first minute? And yes, we knew there was a charge if we let them put us through to the number. But did you know that it was £2.39 for the entire call? Jeepers.
Now for the photographs...The Duchess of Cambridge with Prince George graces the front of the Telegraph in a picture taken by her dad to illustrate a story about a holiday shot of the Duchess of Cambridge with Prince George gracing the pages of a celebrity magazine, a picture taken by a paparazzo. But who wants to look at the pretty princess when we can smirk at/with Sally Bercow caught by the Sun in a clinch with a man rather taller and darker than her Speaker husband. Needless to say, she came out fighting on Twitter. Attagirl, Sal!
Monday 3 February, 2014
Gove, Gove and more Gove. The man is everywhere: on the radio, on television and now all over this morning's papers. While the fallout over Sally Morgan occupies the Guardian, while the Independent is fretting about funding cuts that are apparently leaving sixth-form colleges unable to offer A-level maths courses.
With no let-up in the rain and the threats of more to come, the high water levels produced some spectacular surfing pictures - and an excellent lead for the Sun. But for all the hard work on education, benefits and floods, there was one story we wanted to read - the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman. Sadly, only the Independent gave it proper prominence. Forward planning and specials are all very well - as long as you're prepared to ditch them when a real story breaks.
With no let-up in the rain and the threats of more to come, the high water levels produced some spectacular surfing pictures - and an excellent lead for the Sun. But for all the hard work on education, benefits and floods, there was one story we wanted to read - the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman. Sadly, only the Independent gave it proper prominence. Forward planning and specials are all very well - as long as you're prepared to ditch them when a real story breaks.
