04 December 2014, The Tablet

One beaming pontiff plus two unmolested doves add up to a positive message


 
A tiny picture 21mm deep of Pope Francis apparently rubbing noses with Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople went with The Times’ report on Monday of their meeting in Istanbul. In The Daily Telegraph a picture 215mm deep showed the Pope’s face in profile, looking a little like Alec Guinness, framed by Romanesque monster-headed choir stalls. The Times’ report was longer by a third, but it did not look it. Both papers carried a headline about IS (Islamic State), though The Times’ report was mostly about healing divisions between Catholics and Orthodox, and the Telegraph’s report focused on the genocidal peril of Christians in the Middle East.It is not the factual content of news reports that leaves most impression on readers. Probably as effective was a two-c
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