The world’s most expensive newspaper? The Australian jacked up its weekday cover price to $2 this week, which got us thinking about the world’s most expensive newspaper (it wouldn’t be The Oz at any rate — The Australian Financial Review comes in at $3 on weekdays). There’s an urban myth The Fin is the world’s most expensive daily, so we thought we’d see how the cover prices of Australian newspapers stack up.

Leading the pack is Switzerland’s Neue Zürcher Zeitung which costs the good folk of Zurich 4Fr daily — that’s A$4.16 on current exchange rates. The neoliberal broadsheet is the most expensive we’ve found so far. For context, the NZZ’s competitor Der Tages Anzeiger (“Der Taggi” to locals) is 3Fr (A$3.12).

Australia’s Fin is still cheaper than Britain’s Financial Times at £2.50 (A$3.93). That’s more than twice the price of The Guardian at £1.20, The Times at £1 and Murdoch’s Sun at 60p. The Washington Post‘s rise has been steep, rising to US$1 in January this year (meaning the paper’s cover price has gone up 76% in five years). The cheapest paper we’ve found so far is Malaysia’s Oriental Daily News — at One Ringgit, it’s only A$0.31.

Crikey analysis: what a newspaper will set you back

Newspaper

Local Price AUD
Panorama (Albania) €1.5 $1.89
Daily Nation (Barbados) BDS$1.25 $0.61
DNES (Czech Republic) €1.90 $2.39
Der Tagesspiegel (Germany) €1.10 $1.38
Jerusalem Post (Israel) NIS 12.00 $3.01
El Universal (Mexico) $10 (Peso) $0.75
Oriental Daily News (Malaysia) 1 Ringgit $0.31
Bisnis Indonesia (Indonesia) 5,900 Rupiah $0.60
Washington Post (USA) US$1 $0.98
The Guardian (UK) £1.20 $1.89
The Times (UK) £1 $1.57
The Financial Times (UK) £2.50 $3.93
Der Tages Anzeiger (Switzerland) 3Fr $3.12
Lietuvos Rytas (Lithuania) 1,99 Lt $0.72
Neue Zuercher Zeitung (Switzerland) 4Fr $4.16
La Nacion (Argentina) $6.20 (Peso) $1.29

Know of a more expensive — or cheaper — paper? Drop us a line. — Crikey intern Sally Whyte

Video of the day. Jennifer Livingston, a TV anchor in the US, was sent an email from a viewer claiming her weight was setting a bad example as a public figure. Livingston responded on air, in a tirade that has made headlines across the country …

Front page of the day. The people of Denver are pretty excited about their moment in the political sun ahead of the US presidential debate tomorrow morning Australian time. There was even a ballot for tickets to the event …

Lebedev fears Russian crackdown could hit UK papers

“Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev is drawing up ‘contingency plans’ for his UK media holdings, the Evening Standard and Independent, as he faces charges of hooliganism and battery that he says are designed to silence his criticism of corruption in Vladimir Putin’s Russia.” — The Guardian

Newspapers reborn in freer Malaysia?

“Obtaining permission to publish a newspaper in Malaysia, where the print media are dominated by government-linked publications, is likely to become easier after a court ruled that the right to freedom of expression includes the right to publish and is a fundamental liberty, a lawyer said on Tuesday.” — The New York Times

Does advertising treat the elderly like idiots?

“A large number of Australians over the age of 50 think advertising directed at them is patronising, a survey has found. Research into 5402 Australians from the age of 50 to over 80 revealed that 40.5% of this group feel patronised by advertising.” — mUmBRELLA