Words Dept.: entry

There’s nothing especially unusual about the Daily Express producing an entirely confusing and off-beam front-page. This, after all, is the paper that splashed with Princess Diana for the best part of a decade after she died.

However, I couldn’t help noticing this morning’s effort, which manages to juggle tragedy, absurdity, bad taste and utter irrelevance with a startling clarity of intent. What strikes me first here is the juxtaposition of image and headline. So, while the top third of the page carries an image of utter devastation and a woman wrapped in a blanket who has clearly lost everything she ever loved, the bottom two-thirds blares “TAX AND PENSION JOY FOR MILLIONS”. And what better place to position a teaser for a competition to “WIN A PEUGEOT MOTORHOME WORTH OVER £30,000″ than in between the two?

Simultaneously, the phrase “Nuclear nightmare looms” is virtually hidden. Indeed, an equal amount of space on the front page is devoted to the fact that Amanda Holden has produced a “brave smile”.

Just look at it. It really is a startlingly odd jumble of words and pictures.