Paper Monitor
12:27 UK time, Thursday, 15 January 2009
A service highlighting the riches of the daily press.
Amidst the various conflicts currently raging, one row has, so far, avoided the front pages. It's about that most well-to-do of kitchen items, the Aga. After the Guardian's barefaced attack on Tuesday, the champion of all things well-to-do, the Daily Telegraph, has spoken out in defence of the half-ton cast iron cooker.
"Aga is shorthand for the rural dream; a home, a hearth, the perfect crusty bloomer and a warming oven with which to revive hypothermic lambs." At a time when house prices are falling and the number of repossessions are expected to rise, is it any surprise that an £8,000 Aga is not top of people's shopping list?
The Telegraph uses its best rallying cries to make the Aga's case. It argues that the sleeker Smeg is "a bit passe, now that you can buy them in Currys" and that "anyone who's anyone has an Aga" - followed by a list including Jilly Cooper, the Duchess of Cornwall, Jodie Kidd and Sting. Will these incentives win over anyone other than... readers of the Telegraph?
And now, on to a subject closer to Paper Monitor's heart. The Times' T2 has dished up a veritable treat for any devotee of The Wire - an interview with the TV series' creator, David Simon.
And could there be a hint of what his next project may be, in his reaction about the Ö÷²¥´óÐã and the licence fee? "Is this an institution that is suitable for treatment in The Wire?" Imagine, the drama created by such a genius set in the corridors of Strictly Come Dancing, the news channel and The Tweenies. Send your own plot suggestions below.
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