Imagine you are the editor of a local newspaper. There are a few stories in the paper that you could choose to fill almost the entire front page with:

• A well-known, controversial local businessman – connected to the local football club – is banged up for 11 months for having a mate do his community service after an assault conviction
• There are plans for a prominent local landmark building to be knocked down.
• The local council is accused of ‘abandoning vulnerable kids’ and the debate about closing play groups leads to the council meeting being suspended a couple of times to let councillors calm down.
• Ruthless landlords are cramming 16 people into tiny homes for profit.
• The local MP makes comments on the possible impact of the town’s biggest employer(with 35,00 jobs) being sold
• A 20-year-old woman refused to pay the £41 bill for a bikini wax, complaining it left her bruised, and is going to court.

Having come up with the headline SMOOTH CRIMINAL for the last story you obviously put that on the front page, even if it is the most trivial story, because its too good to waste on an inside page…

Not that I can criticise anyone else for news values. In the week Gordon Brown took over as PM I was probably writing about Heroes or something, and I am a bit of a sucker for an amusing headline. I do feel abit sorry for the woman though: if I had my pubic region waxed I don’t think I would enjoy having my photo on the front page, next to the story telling everyone about it.

Possibly it would be even less comfortable than having that region waxed, but I wouldn’t like to bet on it!