Jon Snow: First punk newsreader

No, Jon Snow is not trying to present the seven o'clock news after a lengthy spell in the pub. Nor is he about to appear on Stars in Their Eyes as Johnny Rotten.

If the face of Channel 4 News doesn't look his usual sharp self in this new photo - indeed, he looks like he has been assaulted by a peeved interviewee - it's all in the cause of art.

The award-winning journalist is the subject of a photograph by Frank Herholdt, who is more used to snapping screen stars such as Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller and Melanie Griffith.

Herholdt, who has won prizes for his work, confessed he was a big Snow fan: "I often watch Channel 4 News, and I love the mad abstract designs of the set. I met Jon when he bought a picture of mine. We had a chat and we got on really well. I've often looked at his immaculate appearance and ties and thought, 'Wouldn't it be good to portray him as a complete wreck?'

"He was terribly good natured, sitting in my studio in a ripped suit with his backside hanging out of his trousers."

Snow, 54, is pleased with the punk image, which he said brought out his inner rebel. "It's the creative antithesis of what I normally do," he said. "Usually I'm only allowed to be a rebel with my ties."

ITN has bought the photo as a get-well present to Channel 4's controller of news and current affairs, David Lloyd, who is recovering from a serious stroke.

But it may have started a trend which could transform the nation's sombre news coverage: leading ITN names are said to be flocking to view the picture, and Herholdt admitted other newsreaders had asked for a Snow-style makeover.

He was coy about names, but ITN sources say Channel 5 newsreader Kirsty Young is one. "I would really like to do the news girls," said Herholdt. "They're so beautiful."

And so the nation waits for Huw Edwards as a New Romantic, and a Glam-rock Sir Trevor McDonald.