WELL I NEVER!

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Last night's Newsnight 'tomorrow's front pages' did not mention The Guardian!!
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This solved my insomnia last night, as I fainted away in shock.

THAT'S A BIT BETTER!

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As ever Saturday morning means the Newsnight 'front pages review', listed in order of mention. Though The Guardian maintains its unique unbroken run of mentions, this week's programmes have featured a much more balanced selection from the broadsheets. (Hardly any mentions for the tabloids. No Daily Mail for instance).
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Fri 26/3 Gavin Esler
1. The Times
2. The Financial Times
3. The Guardian
4. The Daily Telegraph
5. The Independent
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Thu 25/3 Kirsty Wark
1. The Daily Telegraph
2. The Times
3. The Guardian
4. The Financial Times
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Wed 24/3 Jeremy Paxman
1. The Financial Times
2. The Guardian
3. The Daily Telegraph
4. The Independent
5. The Daily Star
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Tue 23/3 Jeremy Paxman
1. The Guardian
2. The Independent
3. The Daily Telegraph
4. The Financial Times
5. The Times
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Mon 22/3 Jeremy Paxman
1. The Financial Times
2. The Guardian
3. The Daily Telegraph
4. The Times
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LABOUR/UNITE, SINN FEIN/IRA, GUARDIAN/BBC?

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What better way to start a Saturday morning that with my weekly check-up on how Newsnight deals with the newspaper front pages?

Here are this week's lists, as ever recording each mention in order of mention:

Fri 19/3 Gavin Esler
1. The Times
2. The Guardian
3. The Telegraph
4. The Independent

Thu 18/3 Kirsty Wark
1. The Guardian
2. The Financial Times
3. Daily Telegraph
4. The Times
5. The Independent

Wed 17/3 Jeremy Paxman
1. The Times
2. The Financial Times
3. The Independent
4. The Daily Mail
5. The Guardian

Tue 16/3 Jeremy Paxman
1. The Independent
2. The Guardian
3. The Times
4. The Daily Telegraph

Mon 15/3 Jeremy Paxman
1. The Financial Times
2. The Guardian
3. The Daily Telegraph
4. The Daily Mail


Despite a nail-biting finish to Wednesday's edition, The Guardian continues its unbroken run, being the only newspaper to be featured in every single review since records began (on 8/2/10).


The tally that answers the question 'Which is the newspaper Newsnight most often begins its front pages review with?' now records:

1. The Guardian - 11 first mentions
2. The Independent - 5 first mentions
3. The Times - 4 first mentions
4. The Daily Telegraph & The Financial Times - 3 first mentions each


So after 6 weeks, the running total for all mentions produces this list:

1. The Guardian - 26 mentions
2. The Independent & The Daily Telegraph - 19 mentions each
3. The Financial Times - 17 mentions
4. The Daily Mail - 12 mentions
5. The Times - 9 mentions
6. The Sun - 3 mentions
7. The Daily Express - 2 mentions

The Guardian, the inky wing of the BBC, remains at the front of the field, with a strong lead over its nearest rivals. (The Sun might like to note how it and its sibling The Times fare in comparison!)

...AND ON AND ON

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Even the debate on social care for last night's Newsnight special ended early to allow space for David Grossman to talk to Kirsty Wark about Lord Ashcroft. This was in the 'other news' section at the end of the programme - a section that glided with unseemly haste over the BA strike and cuts to university funding. The first item on the 'newspaper front pages' section was, inevitably, the Guardian's story about Lord Ashcroft.
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At least The World Tonight dwelt on another BBC obsession: Israel and the Palestinians!
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The BBC News website, however, is not prepared to move on. They show themselves to be truly tenacious propagandists for Labour.
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The site has got a trumped-up story about two of the stars of Dragon's Den, and its home page links to it as the story on its Business section (ignoring 'BA strike talks to resume later'): 'Dragon's Den star breathes fire over non-doms' http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8575626.stm.
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The fire-breathing 'dragon' is Duncan Bannatyne. One of the other 'dragons', James Caan, is a non-dom, and Mr Bannatyne uses him an an 'case study'. Of course, the 'case study' is then applied to the specific circumstances of a certain Conservative donor:

"Mr Bannatyne, a Labour party donor who has publicly backed Gordon Brown, also waded into the row over Lord Ashcroft, but denied he was doing it for political ends.

"In my opinion no one should be allowed to be an MP sitting in the House Of Commons, sitting in the Houses of Parliament, sitting in the House of Lords, unless they are fully dominated [sic] in Great Britain and pay British taxes," he said."

THE GBC (GUARDIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION) AGAIN

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Time for that traditional Saturday feature, the listings for the Newsnight front pages' review for last week - in order of mention. Neither Tuesday nor Wednesday's programmes had time at the end for the papers, so there are only three day's worth of details this week:

Mon 8/3 Jeremy Paxman
1. The Times
2. The Guardian
3. The Sun
4. The Financial Times

Thu 11/3 Kirsty Wark
1. The Guardian
2. The Times
3. The Telegraph
4. The Independent
5. The Financial Times
6. The Daily Mail

Fri 12/3 Gavin Esler
1. The Guardian
2. The Telegraph
3. The Daily Mail

As you can see the Guardian continues to be the BBC's house mag (as Not a sheep calls it). It's the only newspaper to be mentioned in every one of the reviews (no other newspaper comes even close) since I began my review five weeks ago (21/21)).
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Besides the sheer number of mentions, it's revealing to note just how often the Guardian is also the first newspaper to be mentioned. The results from the last five weeks are stark:
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1. The Guardian - 10 first mentions
2. The Independent - 4 first mentions
3. The Telegraph -3 first mentions
4. The Times & the Financial Times - 2 first mentions each
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Like many others, I always had a feeling that I was hearing more about The Guardian on the BBC than about any other newspaper. By the simple act of listing and counting, I now know that it why I had that feeling!!
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Some of their rivals might be interested in knowing this, which gives me an idea...
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THE GBC (GUARDIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION)

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Here's a fourth week's worth of listings for the closing newpaper front pages section of Newsnight, as ever given in order of mention:
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Mon 1/3 Kirsty Wark
1. The Independent
2. The Guardian
3. The Sun
4. Financial Times
5. Daily Express
6. Daily Telegraph
7. Daily Mail

Tue 2/3 Jeremy Paxman
1. The Guardian
2. Daily Mail
3. Financial Times

Wed 3/3 Jeremy Paxman
1. The Independent
2. The Times
3. The Guardian
4. Daily Telegraph

Thur 4/3 Jeremy Paxman
1. The Guardian
2. Daily Telegraph
3. Financial Times
4. The Independent

Fri 5/3 Emily Maitlis
1. The Guardian
2. Daily Telegraph
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Another victory then for The Guardian, who remain the only paper to feature in every single one of the reviews in the last month. Their total number of mentions goes up to 18, with The Independent still in second place with 14 mentions.
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THIS IS NOT GOING TO SURPRISE YOU...

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Here come a third week's worth of listings for the closing newspaper front pages section of Newsnight, again given in order of mention:
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Mon 22/2 Jeremy Paxman
1. The Guardian
2. The Independent
3. Daily Telegraph
4. Financial Times
5. Daily Mail
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Tue 23/2 No front pages
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Wed 24/2 Kirsty Wark
1. The Independent
2. Daily Telegraph
3. Daily Mail
4. The Guardian
5. Financial Times
6. Daily Express
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Thu 25/2 Emily Maitlis
1. The Times
2. The Guardian
3. Financial Times
4. The Independent
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Fri 26/2 Gavin Esler
1. Daily Telegraph
2. The Guardian
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So, after three weeks, how are things standing? Which is the most mentioned newspaper? (I'm sure you guessed this anyhow!!):
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1. The Guardian - 13 mentions
2. The Independent - 11 mentions
3. Financial Times - 9 mentions
4. Daily Telegraph - 9 mentions
5. Daily Mail - 6 mentions
6. The Times - 2 mentions
7. Daily Express - 1 mention
8. The Sun - 1 mention
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Indeed, alone among the British newspapers The Guardian is the only rag to be mentioned in all the Newsnight front page reviews of the last three weeks.

'NEWSNIGHT' HEADLINES

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A week ago today I said I'd begin to list all the rags mentioned during the week, in the order they were mentioned, during the headlines preview at the end of each edition of Newsnight. Last week saw The Guardian winning the race for best coverage, especially when Gavin Esler was presenting. How will it fare this week?
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Fri 19/2 - Jeremy Paxman
1. Telegraph
2. Guardian
3. Mail
4. Independent
5. Sun

Thurs 18/2 - Gavin Esler
1. Independent
2. Guardian

Wed 17/2 - Gavin Esler
1. Guardian
2. Independent
3. Telegraph
4. Mail
5. FT

Tue 16/2 - Kirsty Wark
1. Telegraph
2. Guardian
3. Independent
4. Mail
5. Times

Mon 15/2 - Gavin Esler
1. FT
2. Guardian
3. Telegraph
4. Independent

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

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Talking of favoured newspapers, here are a list of all the rags mentioned this week, in the order they were mentioned, during the headlines preview at the end of each edition of Newsnight. Do you spot any favoured papers here?
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Fri 12/2 - Gavin Esler
1. Guardian
2. FT
3. Independent

Thurs 11/2 - Gavin Esler
1. Guardian
2. FT
3. Telegraph
4. Independent

Wed 10/2 - Gavin Esler
1. Guardian
2. Mail
3. Telegraph
4. Independent
5. FT

Tue 9/2 - Emily Maitlis
1. FT
2. Guardian

Mon 8/2 - Emily Maitlis
No time for papers