£15.40 for the Price of Our Democracy

Britain’s press is selling counterfeit reality. Tabloids cheer, broadsheets posture, politicians sleep. If journalists do not stand upright, Britain will be hijacked in plain sight.

I do not make a habit of buying an armful of British papers. Most days I live in primary sources, transcripts and case files, and my patience for front-page theatre is thin. But on returning to London to lay the groundwork for the Gunpowder Chronicles and ahead of our news-meeting event, I decided to do the dutiful thing. I went to Tesco, paid at 10:37, and walked out with six titles tucked under my arm. The till rang £15.40 in total. Consider this the bill for a one-morning X-ray of the public square.

Before we get to what the papers say, a word about what they cost. Prices are not incidental; they’re a quiet editorial line about who is invited into the conversation.

• The Daily Telegraph prints £3.50 on the masthead.

• The Irish Post prints £2.20.

• Daily Mirror masthead shows £1.00.

• Daily Express masthead shows 90p.

• The Times and The Guardian did not display legible prices on the front in my photographs; the receipt total, however, makes clear this bundle sits firmly in mid-teens territory, wi…