Paper Monitor
11:09 UK time, Monday, 15 January 2007
A service highlighting the riches of the daily press.
It's scary how all-consuming reality TV can be. "Big Brother is getting bigger" runs the headline on the front of today's Metro, sending Paper Monitor into an Oliver Hardy-style double-take as it tried to reconcile the claim with news that the latest Celebrity Big Brother has suffered a ratings drop. As it turns out, the BB in question isn't, in fact, CBB, or indeed BB as in C4's BB, rather BB in terms of CCTV BB.
Over at the Times, chief political correspondent Anthony Browne clearly had a busy Sunday shift, landing today's front page splash, and two stories on the inside pages.
However, all come with the noticeable imprint of Tory Party HQ. "Pupils kept in crumbling classrooms by red tape," runs the front page splash, which turns out to be based on "figures, obtained by the Conservatives".
"Blair seeks a butler as taxpayers' bill for running No 10 trebles," according to "figures… compiled by Oliver Heald, the Shadow Constitutional Affairs Secretary".
"Chancellor needs to see more of the world, Tories claims." A-ha. At least this one comes with an attribution in the headline.
Not that the government can complain. At the height of New Labour's powers, the Times had a reputation for being very chummy with Mr Blair's spin doctors.
But on that last story, one might ask: what is a top politician to do these days? The article focuses on the claim that the chancellor has a huge gap in his worldly knowledge because he hasn't visited lots of countries… all of South America for example. Only last week, Mr Blair was accused of being selfish after defending his right to a long-haul holiday. Now, Mr Brown, is accused of being politically naïve for NOT going to enough far-flung destinations.
The 
