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Friday Funnies: Paper goes nuclear over swine flu

Due to an unprecedented influx of comedy emails to HoldtheFrontPage, we are able to bring you a hat trick of Friday Funnies for July.

The sun is still (just about) shining out there and hopefully this will tickle your fancy as the dreaded silly season looms large.

Thanks as always to our eagle-eyed readers but can we make it four for the month? You decide: email us on editor.htfp@and.co.uk.


A picture paints a thousand words and so in this digital age, it's important that online stories are illustrated wherever possible. Good to see the Uxbridge Gazette keeping a photographic sense of perspective with this swine flu story:

Ironically, this is the Gazette's most-read story so far in July.


We bet whoever subbed this picture caption probably got a 'roasting'.....

.....but it's OK, it's just a testt anyway (from Western Daily Press):


And on the subject of subbing, we suspect the person responsible for this headline made a "flying" exit from the office.....with a flea in their ear (from Herts-based Comet Series):


It seems Northern Echo editor Peter Barron was so moved by the Michael Jackson memorial service he momentarily lost his memory:


A wise philosopher once said the key to a successful local newspaper was reporting what's on your doorstep. In the case of the Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard, literally what's on your doorstep:

As is sadly often the case, the story did not have a happy ending:


The particularly observant among you may have seen this image once already this week after we published the story on our new Journalism Hub blog.

But we felt this screen grab from the top of the Lichfield Mercury's online news list on Wednesday definitely deserved another outing:

And click through for the story in full for those feline-ing less than purrfect about 'Spike' being whiskered away to cat heaven.


And finally for this week, Warwickshire Police's press office is offering a new online service to the public.....crime prediction!

Now that really is value for your tax dollar.


If you enjoyed these then click through to our previous collection: A dual-purpose headline. And please also take a moment to visit our Facebook group where our photo gallery has recently been updated.





All Subbed Out (17/07/2009 12:00)
The fact that a dead cat of no particular note makes the top of a website's news page simply illustrates the depth to which Northcliffe in the Midlands has plunged since axing dozens of staff and butchering once-proud local newspapers earlier this year. The company continually trumpets its embracement of the digital age yet puts fewer and fewer resources into any of its media at grass roots, and has actually axed several sections of the Lichfield website in question because they simply hadn't been updated or had anything filed to them since the massive reductions in staffing at the end of March.


Kitty (17/07/2009 15:09)
Crikey! I came on here to take my mind off all the other depressing news and comments, and it looks like there's no escape thanks to All Subbed Out. No chance of a bit of light relief, eh?


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