Paper Monitor
10:15 UK time, Tuesday, 9 October 2007
A service highlighting the riches of the daily press.
Buddy can you spare a dime? Actually, given the current exchange rate make that two dimes. Actually, let's round it up to a full quarter and say no more about it. Why the plea for extra change? Because the weekday Telegraph has followed the Guardian in bumping up its price a whopping 10p sterling to 80p.
When the Guardian pulled this stunt last month, Paper Monitor set out on a short-lived campaign to identify evidence of a 12.1% (allowing for inflation) rise in editorial standards.
So it must be with the Telegraph… Well, there's all the usual stuff - politics and big pictures of pretty young women pegged to insignificant snippets of news. A radiant Samantha Cameron and television presenter Cat Deeley illustrate an article about how a £950 bag designed by the Conservative leader's wife has sold out in three weeks. So does squeezing politics and pretty women into one story constitute a 12.2% rise in standards?
Then there's the article about certain relationships being bad for you. Those in unhappy relationships have a higher chance of developing health problems than those in happy relationships, say researchers. So, is stating the bleeding obvious worth an extra 10p?
Still unsure? Flick to page 23 for all the evidence you need - a full-page feature on Scrummies. They are the rugby equivalent of Wags. There's nine pictures featuring pretty women, a profile of the most important Scrummies and a 10-step guide to becoming one. Now, if that kind of thorough reporting on a subject isn't evidence of a rise in editorial standards, then Paper Monitor doesn't know what is.
But if we're talking about raising your game, the Express is in a class apart today. Diana, Posh and Kate McCann all make it onto the front page. PM thinks it is the first time the paper's three favourite women have all featured on the same day. The paper must be feeling very proud of itself today.
The 
