News of the World mocks Kerry, readers

The News of the World relishes sticking the boot into Katona this morning. Noting that OK! decided to "pass" on paying for one of Katona's kids' christenings, the paper carries a spoof report.

The problem is, why they clearly see it as a joke at the expense of Katona's slide down the social scale, it looks more like Metropolitan sophisticates scoffing at the provincial poor:

Despite the absence of a fat OK! cheque, gorgeous Kerry and her handsome husband Mark Croft handpicked a charming location—the Warrington suburb of Padgate.

It's arguable whether anyone should shed any tears for Katona, who has lived her life in a way that effectively means this is her job; but if I was editing a paper which relied for customers on the sort of people who have their family gatherings in places like the Bayleaf Restaurant, I'd think twice before adopting a condescending tone:

This smart eaterie— possibly more familiar to the cognescenti under its onetime title Smithys bowling club — boasts half an acre of land, complete with upended fridge, oil drums and decorative bin bags.

The Sunday Telegraph might get away with this sort of thing, but for the News of the World, it's basically pissing on your own readers - a readership who are being courted with an expensive magazine relaunch this week. That's gone with Kelly Osbourne as cover girl; if you know your readers will accept the idea that Kelly is "Fabulous", how do you square that with suggesting that a pub in Padgate is somehow one of the lower circle of hell?

Mind you, the paper is also running the Heath Ledger cocaine video on its website, so perhaps it just doesn't care.