Is it my imagination, or is the Sun getting smuttier?

A couple of weeks ago I promised that this column would keep a watchful eye on Rebekah Wade, the new editor of the Sun. As is so often the case, the first piece of evidence is right before our eyes, in the pages of Who’s Who. But before we get on to that, let me say something about what Rebekah has done to the Sun. She has certainly livened it up – many would say coarsened it. The substantials may not have changed, but she has turned a lot of knobs and dials, and the overall effect is very different.

Rebekah’s rumoured aversion to Page Three girls turns out to be a piece of old PR which no longer applies. Whereas under David Yelland’s regime ‘Page Three lovelies’ generally had a girl-next-door look, Rebekah’s are raunchier. By my calculations she has also already put near-naked women three times on the front page.