This week's news quiz. Mehreen's 16 to beat

Eyes down for the quiz ... the Telegraph trainees in Liverpool today

The Daily Telegraph trainees have had a particularly busy week. Apart from a couple of days with me in Howden they have had sessions with Paul Francis on Freedom of Information and Martin Stephens on visual journalism. They took a law exam yesterday and today they visited the offices of the Liverpool Post and Echo with Tony Johnston, head of PA Training. As always we finished the week with the news quiz, just to ensure that they continue to forensically read the papers. This week's winner is Mehreen Khan with 16 out of 24. This means, over the six weeks of the course, Mehreen is 12 points ahead of second placed Raz Akkoc. It's the final quiz next week so Mehreen is clear favourite to pick up the end of course prize. See if you can do better than 16. There are 20 questions, with four bonus points, so a possible 24. 
   

China George (Q5) Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

1. The Scotland Yard inquiry into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is called Operation ___________. What is the missing word? 

2. Prime Minister David Cameron suggested customers should switch suppliers after British Gas announced it was putting up prices. The company is putting its gas up by 8.4 pc on November 23 and raising its electricity rates by what percentage? 

Bonus, the Energy Sectetary said there were a range of suppliers offering better deals than British Gas. Who is the Energy Secretary? 

3. 1970s' characters the Clangers, created by Oliver Postgate, are to return to television screens in a new series. What colour planet do the Clangers live on?

4. What was Plymouth lollipopman Bob Slade doing with children that led to him quitting his job.

5. In his trade visit to Beijing Chancellor George Osborne claimed, wrongly, that 160 million Chinese people are regularly watching what?

6. Roy Hodgson steered England to the World Cup finals in Brazil and then found himself in a row over a joke about a monkey … and a what? 

Bonus, England's qualification means that four former World Cup winning countries from Europe have booked a place in Brazil. Who are the only former World Champions from Europe that are not yet there? 

7. A street stall in New York was offering spray art for sale at $60 a piece. The pictures were actually by steet artist Banksy and were worth thousands. How many paying customers did the stall have?

8. Why was Angela Ahrendts in the headlines?

9. Eleanor Catton became the youngest winner of the Man Booker prize with her novel The Luminaries. How old is she?

Bonus, prior to Catton's success who was the youngest Booker prizewinner?

10. Pensioners with more than how much money in savings should be regarded as 'quite wealthy' according to care minister Norman Lamb?

11. Sir Anthony Hopkins described whose performances as 'the best acting I have seen - ever'?

12. British newspapers are not the only ones having a tough time from their Government. President Cristina Kirchner has been accused by editors of introducing a draconian law to control the media. In which country?

Bonus, The International Herald Tribune changed its name this week. To what?

13. In a her memoirs, graphic artist Chrisann Brennan says her former lover believed he was a Second World War fighter pilot in a previous life. Who was she writing about?

14. The Independent Police Complaints Commission accused which police force of a cover-up in the so-called Plebgate dispute involving former chief whip Andrew Mitchell? 

15. Nice has told doctors not to always blame patients if they are obese. What is the full name of Nice.

16. Why was Wimbledon champion Andy Murray almost late to Buckingham Place to receive his OBE?

17. Oxford scientist Professor Brian Sykes claims to have uncovered evidence that what exists?

18. An inquest into the deaths of six British soldiers, killed by a roadside bomb in Afhanistan, is being held at the Coroner's Court in which city?

19. Labour's new shadow women's minister has found herself irritated by a story about a topless photo shoot she did when she was a teenager. Who is she?

20. The sales of what have doubled in the last 12 months to 550,000?

Answers here.

Headline of the week .. Ozil's oozing conk

There have been some interesting headers kicking around this week but my tabloid headline of the week has to be this one from The Sun.

The paper has always been partial to a rhyming headline - and getting conk and bonk into one heading is a tabloid sub-editor's dream. 

I was with the Daily Mail's subbing trainees this week and I set them the task of examining Wednesday's papers to find the best, worst, laziest and most vivid headlines of the day. They were divided over 'Rexecuted', The Sun's splash on Prince William's guard dogs being put down.

I quite liked it ... Rex as a dog's name and, of course, king. But whereas some chose it as the best pun of the day, others thought it was the worst. The dogs, they said, are called Brus and Blade. 

Back on the sporting front there were lots of puns on Jose Mourinho's 'shell shocked rotten eggs' being 'scrambled' and 'fried' by Basle on Wednesday night.

I preferred 'Basle Faulty'. It was fairly obvious I guess (and I'm sure I have seen it before) but it worked well with the comical picture of Mourinho in the Express. The Mail used it too.

My favourite footballing pun of the week though was in The Daily Telegraph. 'Juan for the road' sums up Mata's position perfectly in only four words.

The ambiguous headline of the week was this one from the BBC website.

It reminds me of the infamous 'Police help rape victim'. It also encouraged Simon Bougourd to send me this ...

Talking of elephants, The Northern Echo's deputy editor Chris Lloyd also posted this from the archives ...

Chris suggested that it might be the greatest headline to have ever appeared in the paper ... and had the temerity to asked if I had written it. Even before my time that one.

Adverts breaking out of the box

This advert, with balloons floating into an inappropriate story, rightly caused a flurry of disapproval on Twitter. It is pretty awful. But it's the execution, not the concept, that's the problem. Any sub or layout artist faced with this advert should have opted for a lighter story, rather than one about baby deaths. Insensitive at best, crass at worst. There has been a move towards 'radical' advertising in recent months. Adverts, once hemmed in at the bottom of the page and dominated by editorial, have been breaking out all over. Adscapes have allowed advertisers to think out of the box. Now we see adverts at the top of a page with editorial below or adverts jutting into copy. The rigid borders have been breached. Here are some recent examples:

None of these are offensive. Some are very good. I wouldn't even say they were particularly radical. Magazines have been doing this kind of thing for years. Some newspapers have slaughtered other sacred cows. Pages 2, 3 and the back, once fiercely guarded by editors (myself included), have become attractive and legitimate slots for advertisers.

The South Wales Evening Post carried this advert for Swansea FC's new centenary kit on pages 2 and 3. Nicely done, with big impact and huge local relevance.  

Even the front page has come up for grabs. I was as surprised as anyone to see The Guardian, Independent and Daily Telegraph dressed in Vodafone's bright red last October. 

It followed The Sun giving its front and back over to Sky 3D in July. For free newspapers such as Metro, this was always an option ... but it was a no-go area on paid-for dailies. All that has now changed. 

The Hull Daily Mail came up with a variation, and managed to protect its splash, with this an interesting approach - a translucent wrap - last year. 

I was also interested in this cover from the Lincolnshire Echo. The paper was campaigning to save Lincolnshire Prison from closure and recruited the support of leading local lawyers who paid for the privilege of arguing the case on Page 1.

All of this would have made me wince 20 years ago when I was editing a daily paper. Many a time I arm-wrestled with the advertising manager over inappropriate adverts - both in content and design. The bout would often end with me throwing the advert out. The editor was king.

But extraordinary times require extraordinary measures. The odd jagged-edged advert is not the solution, merely a start. If newspapers are to thrive, they need a new approach to advertising, sponsorship and partnerships. They need to look after their clients, provide them with solutions not simply sell them space. They need to be their agents, running their portfolios, assisting them with their marketing campaigns and maintaining their websites. They need to guarantee response. A third way and a different model are crucial. Editors need to sit firmly in the middle of the commercial operation. Radical revenue hunters (and the circulation people) might sit on the news desk looking for opportunities with every story. 

That doesn't mean, of course, that editorial has to capitulate and allow the commercial department to run riot with its clipart and yellow star bursts. Editors need to ensure advertising is creative, well designed, of good taste and  inkeeping with their title's strategy and brand. They need to watch for dodgy juxtapositions. And mostly they need to continue to provide value, protect the credibility of their titles and ensure readers are not duped. They still have the right to throw out unsuitable ads. 

We all know that advertising forecasts for the newspaper industry for 2013 are challenging. But one thing is certain. If all we have to offer our customers is a 'take-it-or leave-it' rectangle in a pre-determined down-page spot, with no guarantee of response, then we will all be heading to the great Press hall in the sky sooner rather than later.