Paper Monitor
10:34 UK time, Wednesday, 28 December 2011
A service highlighting the richness of the daily press.
As is the custom at this time of year, the newspapers are starting to reflect on who is the face of 2011 or the Briton of the year.
And to fill the vacuum of news that usually happens over the Christmas holiday, some have also decided who has the lips of the year, what was the jumper of the year, the shoes of the year, the handbag of the year and many, many more.
The Daily Telegraph names the Duke of Edinburgh, 90, as its Briton of 2011. Not because the paper feels a bit sorry for him after being in hospital over Christmas - it's for so much more.
His Royal Highness claimed publicly to be nearing his "sell-by date", but there was no evidence of that - he carried out some 300 engagements in 2011 and remained as forthright as ever, recently criticising wind farms as "absolutely useless"
The Times names Mohamed Bouazizi as its Person of the Year. The Tunisian street vendor became the inspiration for the Arab Spring. He set himself alight after the fruit on his cart was confiscated by an inspector, who then slapped him in public. He was no revolutionary, but his protest was the catalyst for a wave of revolts.
Pictures of the Year feature in the Guardian. The images include many from the UK riots. These include Amy Weston's unforgettable shot of a woman jumping from a burning building in Croydon. The photographer remembers that night:
A Romanian man pushed through the crowd to the police, shouting that there was a woman still in the building. The next minute I saw two little feet on the window ledge of the second floor. After a few seconds she just fell. The police and crowd below didn't really catch her, it was more like they broke her fall. She was crying and ran off really quickly"
Then it all gets a bit silly. The Times awards Lips of the Year to singer Lana del Rey. Apparently her smackers "caused more controversy than Leslie Ash's". Had she or hadn't she? Paper Monitor is assuming the paper is talking about collagen here. Its conclusion? "Course she had."
It also awards Jumper of the Year to the Gudrun & Gudrun chunky-knit pullover worn by Sarah Lund in TV series The Killing. Shoe of the Year goes to pale peach stilettos worn by the Duchess of Cambridge and Bag of the Year to a Celine shopper. Apparently it "singlehandely changed the handbag landscape".
Enough already? Paper Monitor agrees.
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