Friday 28 November 2014

Media Quotes of the Week: From trashing Tatler to why we need more not fewer journalists in the digital age via ex-Sun ed sorry for 'white van man'



Julia Raeside reviewing BBC 2's Posh People: Inside Tatler for the Guardian: "They all seemed like nice people but what they represented was a revolting, self-serving waste of everyone’s time and money."

Giles Coren about working for Tatler, in The Times [£]: "Newspapers in the 1990s were for the most part grim, windowless tram sheds in the middle of nowhere, full of angry middle-aged men trying to cling on to their jobs in a dying industry. But Tatler was on the second floor of Vogue House, slap in the heart of the West End and positively bursting with girls. The place was full of natural light and the smell of expensive perfume. And my desk was right by a window looking over the trees of Hanover Square towards Bond Street. Not that I ever looked out of it. Because the view inside was so much better. I just used to sit there all day in a puddle of my own drool, wearing three pairs of underpants just in case I was called upon to stand up."


Mr Justice Mitting finding in favour of the Sun in the 'plebgate' libel case: "For the reasons given I am satisfied at least on the balance of probabilities that Mr Mitchell did speak the words alleged or something so close to them as to amount to the same including the politically toxic word pleb."

The Sun [£] in a leader: "We must not forget the whistleblower who was the source of our original story. He also displayed courage by coming forward to expose Mitchell. Shamefully, and despite the clear public interest dimension  The Sun's story, he was sacked by the Met for gross misconduct."

Rupert Murdoch ‏@rupertmurdoch on Twitter: "Great for London Sun and freedom of speech. Journalist cleared on public interest grounds, top Tory snob minister loses libel action."


Dr Evan Harris, associate director of Hacked Off, on the release of Andy Coulson: “Like any other prisoner Andy Coulson is entitled to be released early on licence, but it will be interesting to see whether the newspapers make the same complaints about this convict being released after serving 5 months of an 18 month sentence as they usually do when they express outrage at the same treatment for other prisoners who aren’t their former colleagues. For too many papers when it comes to the criminal justice system it is one rule for them and one rule for the rest of us.”

Labour MP tom_watson ‏@tom_watson on Twitter: "Coulson: The repercussions of his time at News Corp aren't quite over but I hope he finds peace and a productive life."


Mike Darcey, chief executive of News UK in The Times [£], after it was revealed police had viewed phone data of 1,700 News UK staff which was mistakenly handed over by Vodafone: "A senior Vodafone executive has personally apologised to me for what he insists was ‘human error’. Vodafone accepts that the data was ‘wrongly disclosed’. They also recognise that the mobile phone records of journalists — and lawyers — contain privileged information and we have made clear to them that we regard this as a very serious issue. I am personally appalled that this could happen and have relayed this in the strongest terms when speaking with Vodafone.”


Ex-Sun editor David Yelland ‏@davidyelland on Twitter: "I think I helped invent the term white van man. I am most terribly sorry.."


Mike Lowe ‏@cotslifeeditor  on Twitter: "Did a news editor write this head?"


The Times [£] in a leader: "Facebook did not kill Lee Rigby. Adebowale and Adebolajo did. The organisation charged with watching them was MI5. Mr Cameron should bear these facts in mind before embarking on a quixotic crusade against the internet."


Emily Bell, giving the Reuters Memorial Lecture 2014: "Cover technology as a human rights and political issue as if it were Parliament. Maybe even with more verve and clarity ­were that possible. It is just as interesting and about ten thousand times more important. The beats of data, privacy and algorithmic accountability currently either don't exist or are inadequately staffed. We have to stop coverage of technology being about queueing for an iPhone and make it about society and power. We need to explain these new systems of power to the world and hold them accountable. It is after all what we do best."


Herald & Times Group managing director Tim Blott on the launch of The National in Scotland: "It is the first time in many years that a new daily newspaper has been launched in Scotland. The National is an exciting opportunity to meet the needs of a very politically-engaged section of the Scottish population. We recognise that launching a newspaper in 2014 is to some extent counter-intuitive but we consistently argue for the power of great journalism and informed opinion."


Paul Lewis ‏@PaulLewis on Twitter: "Reporters ordered what to wear in the presence of British Royals when they visit New York and DC next month should absolutely resist."

    Nick Cohen ‏@NickCohen4 on Twitter: "@PaulLewis And don't stand when they enter the room"


Malcolm Starbrook in InPublishing: "As revenues get slimmer, publishers will continue to try to run stripped down versions of their newspapers with a direct result on content. Increasingly, we seem to be in the business of curation rather than creation and the unique voice of the newspaper is lost in the competing and strident shouts emanating from the world wide web publishing the same stories, same photos and same tokenism approach to breaking news. We need web platforms that break stories and newspapers that explain and put that information into context. For that, we need more journalists not fewer. But then we struggle to convince people they need to value our journalism. The trend is for people not to pay for the news and information they can obtain though the web. However, as publishers, we need to continue to provide the news, views and information that impacts on people’s lives. By doing that, we will build the audience that our advertisers will want to interact with. It is still the journalism that matters and, internally, we need to support the importance of that basic function.”

[£] = Paywall

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