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The Tele-tab

The Daily Telegraph prides itself on being Britain’s top-selling quality daily newspaper, but the dear old Telly has being playing tabloid of late. Compare this 2004 front page (left) to one of just a few days ago (right).

The point of a headline in a quality newspaper should be to inform the reader of what the article is about, as well as to impart information quickly to those who are scanning the page. “Payback time” the Telegraph boldy asserts, but what on earth does that tell us? Nothing; we have to go to the subheadline to find out “Cameron orders Tories to refund excessive expenses; Hazel Blears to meet £13,332 tax bill on second home”.

There is an art in creating a headline that is both punchy and informative without being vulgar, but the Telegraph seems to have abandoned this art — for now, at least.

Published at 2:51 pm on Sunday 24 May 2009. Categories: Great Britain Newspapers Tags: .
Comments

The Telegraph is only marginally conservative these days. It was ruined by the very strange Scottish brothers who now own it.
Only today it had an article about a decent Right – wing party in Hungary which was indistinguishable in its perfidious (if boringly formulaic) bias from anything one is wont to see in the Guardian.
Only Gerald Warner’s blog saves it from utter irrelevance.

— Baron von Senden 24 May 2009 9:39 pm
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