Paper Monitor
12:34 UK time, Monday, 5 January 2009
A service highlighting the riches of the daily press.
New Year felicitations seem to be thin on the ground among those charged with balancing the books at the Times.
Just when Britain is waking up to the hangover of its post-Christmas credit card bill, the paper's bean counters have slapped another 10p on the masthead price. It means that for the first time in Paper Monitor's extensive, though admittedly not faultless memory, the Times no longer holds the mantle of the budget broadsheet - a title that, for the moment at least, is claimed by the 80p Guardian.
The Times' hike puts the paper on level price pegging with the Daily Telegraph, although loyal readers of the latter may be a tad miffed to know that at least some of their outlay may have found its way into the hands of Somali warlords.
Paper Monitor is of course referring to the welcome release of the Sunday Telegraph's chief foreign correspondent, and his accompanying photographer, from the clutches of Somali gunmen.
The Telegraph manages to relate the whole story without so much as a sniff of the "R" word, but the Guardian is less coy. Local journalists, the paper reports, where the men were kidnapped, claimed a large ransom was paid. A spokesman for the Telegraph declined to comment.
Even if money did change hands, the Telegraph at least, is getting bang for its buck - with a front-page piece by the released captive himself.
And the paper's faithful readers will find their hearts warmed by this Rupert Brooke-ish moment in the report of their kidnapped man's time in captivity.
"On Christmas Day he... managed to listen to a crackly carol service broadcast from India."
The 
