Newspaper headlines: Reality show probe and Kyle 'heartbroken' By BBC News

Staff Published duration 16 May 2019

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After the cancellation on Wednesday of the Jeremy Kyle Show, the Sun says ITV had been looking for a reason to get rid of it because it was "a bit toxic".

The front page says the host is "devastated" by the apparent suicide of a man who had just appeared on the programme, but the paper also suggests that Jeremy Kyle feels the decision to cancel the show was taken too hastily.

The Daily Mail says senior figures at ITV "deplored" the programme, but kept it because of its "stellar" advertising revenue.

The Guardian says the inquiry being launched by MPs into how reality TV contestants are treated "could have major implications for the broadcaster ".

It says that while it will examine the whole industry, ITV will face particular scrutiny for sticking with a "reality format from another era".

The Daily Mirror says ITV was "quite right" to cancel the Jeremy Kyle Show - but adds that, in the right hands, reality television produces great entertainment. It says it has democratised our screens and given a platform for new talent.

The Guardian leads with the news that probation services are being renationalised , saying the reforms were "disastrous", and "widely derided".

The Daily Mirror calls them "hated". The Financial Times describes the the part-privatisation as "chaotic" , but says several of the companies that will lose contracts have warned the system will become fragmented and more expensive.

Cancer 'revolution'

The Daily Mail describes proposals from British scientists to change the way cancer is treated as "a new dawn" for patients

It calls the treatment a revolution, and a "spectacular advertisement for the brilliance of British science".

The Daily Mirror also praises doctors for "pushing the boundaries of medical research". The Daily Express says millions of lives could be saved by new cancer drugs within a decade.

The Times says thousands of people will soon face automatic fines for driving in closed lanes on smart motorways , because police are being allowed to use cameras to penalise motorists.

It says the new powers are to be introduced next month because of fears that too many people are ignoring signs, and safety is being put at risk.

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Many of the papers seize on a new study which has found that Britons are world leaders - at drinking.

The Sun says Americans, Canadians and Australians were close behind , but that the most sober nation is Chile, where people reported getting drunk 16 times a year.

The i newspaper says researchers now think it may be time to introduce guidelines on "how to get drunk safely". The founder of the survey says people are told that drinking too much is bad, but that the guidance fails to accept the pleasure of intoxication.

May urged to quit

The Daily Telegraph says the Conservatives will topple Theresa May within a month , if she does not set out a timetable for her departure today.

Her former chief of staff, Nick Timothy, writes for the paper that she must "accept that the game is up". He urges her to do her duty and stand aside, in order to avoid a "national humiliation" and save the Conservative Party.

Sketches of Wednesday's Prime Minister's Questions focus on the strangely calm mood. The ConservativeHome website says the atmosphere was like "a classroom where the pupils have completed, with huge gaps, the test, but are being allowed a bit more time, in case they suddenly and implausibly remember the answers".

There is a broad welcome for the government's move yesterday to protect former soldiers from repeated legal claims, but there are calls to go further.

The Sun says the prime minister appears to have "capitulated" to Sinn Fein by not including Northern Ireland in the proposed measures.

It urges her successor - whoever that might be - to "defend those who risked their lives defending us".