Media Quotes of the Week: Prince Harry wins Splash helicopter pics privacy payout to Guardian re-writes style book to reflect scale of climate crisis

Court statement on behalf of Prince Harry after he won damages from the Splash news agency for breach of privacy, as reported by the Guardian: "The helicopter flew over the home at a low altitude allowing Splash to take photographs of and into the living area and dining area of the home and directly into the bedroom. The photographs were taken for commercial gain and syndicated for that purpose. As a result, the photographs were published by the Times newspaper and elsewhere online by a number of other media outlets. No consent was given to the action taken by Splash... The syndication and publication of the photographs very seriously undermined the safety and security of the duke and the home to the extent that they are no longer able to live at the property.”

Stephanie Sugars for the  Committee to Protect Journalists: "Since announcing his candidacy in the 2016 presidential elections to the end of his second year in office, U.S. President Donald Trump has sent 1,339 tweets about the media that were critical, insinuating, condemning, or threatening. In lieu of formal appearances as president, Trump has tweeted over 5,400 times to his more than 55.8 million followers; over 11 percent of these insulted or criticized journalists and outlets, or condemned and denigrated the news media as a whole."

Donald Trump @realDonaldTrump on Twitter: "The Mainstream Media has never been as corrupt and deranged as it is today. FAKE NEWS is actually the biggest story of all and is the true ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE! That’s why they refuse to cover the REAL Russia Hoax. But the American people are wise to what is going on....."

Verified account 

Ben de Pear Retweeted Channel 4 News

Channel 4 News editor Ben de Pear @bendepear on Twitter: "We hope to resolve our access ban from Brexit Party events ASAP. We were unaware of the 6-week ban until last Thursday when we broadcast this Nigel Farage investigation, revealing he had been bankrolled by £450k from Arron Banks. Until then we had full access, including to Farage."

Marina Hyde @MarinaHyde on Twitter: "The other broadcasters should show solidarity and decline to cover until Channel 4 is reinstated - this is just Trump bullshit and should be resisted."

• The Brexit Party lifted its ban after a meeting between Channel 4 News and Brexit Party chairman Richard Tice.

Amy Fenton, chief reporter of Newsquest's The Mail, Cumbria, attending a meeting of parent company Gannett shareholders in there US: "I've travelled all the way from England to be here today because amid all the uncertainty and confusion facing our industry I wanted to act as a reminder that you have some incredibly talented and dedicated reporters, here and in the UK, who work their socks off, but ultimately we do that because we love the papers we work for and the communities we serve. I'm here to ask you to bear in mind those committed journalists when considering any changes to the company."

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola after being asked by a reporter if he was being accused of “receiving money” through separate payments from the club’s Abu Dhabi owners, following City's FA Cup win, as reported by the Observer: “Do you know the question you’re asking me? Did I receive money for another situation, right now, today? Honestly, do you think I deserve to have this type of question, the day we won the treble, did I receive money? Are you accusing me of receiving money?”

Jane Bradley @jane__bradley on Twitter: "I’ve never seen this before: a government press release/advert on its much criticised Universal Credit dressed up as 4-page investigative news report, basically framed around the ‘fake news’ narrative."

The Guardian on updating its style guide to introduce terms that more accurately describe the environmental crises facing the world: "Instead of 'climate change' the preferred terms are 'climate emergency, crisis or breakdown' and 'global heating' is favoured over 'global warming', although the original terms are not banned."

Guardian editor-in-chief Katherine Viner: “We want to ensure that we are being scientifically precise, while also communicating clearly with readers on this very important issue. The phrase ‘climate change’, for example, sounds rather passive and gentle when what scientists are talking about is a catastrophe for humanity. Increasingly, climate scientists and organisations from the UN to the Met Office are changing their terminology, and using stronger language to describe the situation we’re in.”

Media Quotes of the Week: From Nigel Farage's war on BBC is out of the Trump playbook to UK's greatest tabloid headline was fake chews

Nigel Farage in response to questioning on the Andrew Marr Show: “What’s wrong with the BBC? I’ve been going round the country speaking at packed rallies every night and do you know who’s not there? The BBC. And from this line of questioning I can see why. You’re just not interested, are you?.. I've never in my life seen a more ridiculous interview than this. You are not prepared to talk about what is happening in this country."

Ian Birrell @ianbirrell on Twitter: "Farage calling BBC 'now the enemy' shows how much he is following the Trump playbook suggested by his white supremacist pal Steve Bannon - tell lies, attack critics, flip-flop shamelessly, pose as anti-elitist - and then berate the media even as it gives you non-stop platforms."

Alan Rusbridger @arusbridger on Twitter: "After the @afneil/Shapiro encounter and the Farage/Marr meltdown I hope the BBC is urgently thinking about how to handle demagogues who refuse to submit to journalistic questioning. Normal rules not working."

Rob Burley, editor of BBC Live Political Programmes  @RobBurl on Twitter:  "My timeline before the interview with Farage: you are pro-Brexit and promoting Farage. My timeline since the Farage interview: you are metropolitan liberals and you hate Nigel and Brexit. The truth: we ask difficult questions of all politicians without fear or favour."

Marc Reeves Retweeted Rob Burley

Marc Reeves @marcreeves on Twitter: "Always amazed at the resilience of Mr Burley as he patiently, endlessly, explains to the wingnuts on both left and right How Journalism Works. Keep it up, Rob - they might get it one day."

Nick Cohen in the Observer:"Brexit has as much been a failure of British journalism as British politics. The basic questions have not been asked. You promised the electorate a trade deal with the EU should be the easiest in history. You said the German car industry would force Merkel to capitulate. Are you a fool or a liar or both? When the honourable exceptions have been listed, the British media have not held politicians to account or followed stories regardless of the consequences."

The White House in a statement after President Trump granted a pardon to former Daily Telegraph owner Conrad Black, who was convicted of fraud charges, stating he had: “Broad support from many high-profile individuals who have vigorously vouched for his exceptional character. This impressive list includes former Secretary of State Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, Sir Elton John, Rush Limbaugh, the late William F. Buckley, Jr., and many additional notable individuals.”

Verified account 

Marc Reeves Retweeted Rob BurleyAlways amazed at the resilience of Mr Burley as he patiently, endlessly, explains to the wingnuts on both left and right How Journalism Works. Keep it up, Rob - they might get it one day.

Rod Liddle in the Sunday Times [£] on Danny Baker: "I’ll miss his cheerful Radio 5 Live show and I hope he comes back soon, having probably been to a re-education camp. If he does, here’s a tip: stay off Twitter. It is a pit of madness inhabited by the perpetually enraged, where nuance and context don’t exist and everything you say will destroy you."

The Sun @TheSun on Twitter: "Freddie Starr joins his hamster. RIP our favourite pet-eating comedian."

Ray Snoddy @RaymondSnoddy on Twitter: "The "truth"about Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster from Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie - story heard in a Fleet Street pub from the wife of a newspaper executive whose friend had told her over lunch ...nothing like fact-checked journalism...In fact the story was that Starr had put the hamster sandwich in his mouth - not even that he ate it! Starr protested for the rest of his life that nothing like it had actually happened."

According to the i newspaper: "A vegetarian since his teens, Starr wrote with tangible exasperation in his 2001 autobiography: “I have never eaten or even nibbled a live hamster, gerbil, guinea pig, mouse, shrew, vole or any other small mammal.”

Mark Lawson in the Guardian: "Starr’s sensational supper never happened: the late publicist Max Clifford admitted to making it up. It was a clever invention, because, whereas readers would have found it hard to believe that, say, Des O’Connor ate pets, the anecdote seemed plausible, given Starr’s dangerous, impulsive performing persona."

 [£]=paywall

Media Quotes of the Week: From lay off Nicholas Witchell to Fleet Street's response to climate emergency could leave it doomed to extinction

Kay Burley @KayBurley on Twitter: "For those who think they can do a better job than the supreme professional #nickwitchell, I’d like to see you try. Doctors bury their mistakes, lawyers jail theirs and TV journalists broadcast theirs. Get off his case and get on with your day."

Jeremy Corbyn in a letter to the president of the Board of Jewish Deputies, reported by the Jewish Chronicle, takes aim at The Times and columnist Daniel Finkelstein: "I note that the Hobson story was written by a Conservative party peer in a newspaper whose editorial policy, and owner, have long been hostile to Labour."

Mark Kleinman on Sky News: "A consortium of hedge funds which seized control of Johnston Press last year is plotting a quickfire strategic review that could trigger the sale of prized newspaper assets such as the i and The Scotsman. Sky News has learnt that the owners of JPIMedia, the company's new name, are sounding out advisers about launching an auction of parts or all of the business, which publishes hundreds of regional titles.City insiders said this weekend that the likeliest outcome was the sale of the i in one transaction, and the rest of the group in another. The likely valuations of the regional titles, which include the Yorkshire Post, Arbroath Herald and Belfast Newsletter, is unclear but is expected to reflect the dwindling financial prospects of news outlets hurt by the shift towards online, often free, rivals."

From The Times [£] obit on former Mirror journalist John Knight: "Knight belonged to Fleet Street’s finest tradition of bons vivants. Once he disappeared for lunch for three days. Upon his return he was asked where he had been. 'On the piss,' he said. 'Oh, thank goodness,' replied his editor. 'We were worried in case you were ill'.”

Reuters editor-in-chief Stephen J Adler in a statement: “We are enormously pleased that Myanmar has released our courageous reporters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. Since their arrests 511 days ago, they have become symbols of the importance of press freedom around the world. We welcome their return.”

Sean O'Neill @TimesONeill on Twitter: "Two journalists [Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney]  were arrested by armed police under the Official Secrets Act in Northern Ireland last year after exposing police collusion in the Loughinisland murders. But Downing Street says Gavin Williamson’s national security breach is a 'closed matter'."

Prisoners of Conscience chief executive Gary Allison: “Until 2014, we received a handful of application each year for emergency hardship grants for journalists. However, given the increasingly world-wide threats to freedom of speech and the often dangerous circumstances within which journalists report, the numbers applying for these grants are rising rapidly. We know there are many more people that need support, but due to the fact human rights defenders are so often driven underground, it’s impossible for us to calculate the exact scale of the problem. We want people to help us help others. Spread the word among colleagues that grants are available, and if you're able to, please donate. Because if journalists are not supported, their voices die. And in some cases, so do they.”

Simon Jack on BBC News: "The publishers of the Sun and now-defunct News of the World, along with the publishers of the Mirror Group newspapers, could face a total bill for phone hacking of up to £1bn, says the group representing the victims. Settlements to victims, plus legal costs, already total nearly £500m. There are hundreds more claims already under way and many thousands more victims who could potentially claim."

Gavin Esler on the Huffington Post: “Balance in politics has been easy in Britain because we have all fallen into the 20th century idea if you have a Tory on you get a Labour Party person. If you have the left you have the right. That’s not what politics is like anymore. Brexit is not only not just about left and right. Brexit is about expertise. You cannot and should not have someone who really knows what they are talking about balanced by someone who is essentially the village idiot.”

Alan Rusbridger @arusbridger on Twitter: "This is surely a diary paragraph rather than a front page splash? If this is the British press’s best response to climate emergency then Fleet Street is doomed to extinction (hopefully not taking the rest of us with them)."

 [£] = paywall

Quotes of the Week: Clooney urged to investigate press freedom in UK to young journalists advised to challenge sub editors over bad headlines

Sean O'Neill in The Times [£]: "Amal Clooney, the newly appointed press freedom envoy, is under pressure to examine the case of two journalists from Northern Ireland who were arrested after exposing police collusion in a sectarian mass murder...There have been calls for her to look at the case of Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney, who were arrested in 7am raids on their homes...Amnesty International expressed 'deep concern' over the arrests and has written to Ms Clooney to explain its worries.."

Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary of the NUJ, told The Times: “If the foreign secretary and his envoy want to offer credible advice and support to protect global media freedom then their remit and terms of reference have to include the UK. It is not tenable to preach to other countries while ignoring the significant problems facing journalists at home, not least in Northern Ireland.”

Society of Editors executive director Ian Murray on the investigation ordered into the Huawei security leak to the Telegraph that led to the sacking of Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson: “For journalists and media organisations the ability to keep sources confidential and protect contacts and whistle-blowers is paramount. What can be seen by some to be unacceptable breaches of confidentiality will by others be considered as important airing of vital subjects. Regardless of how uncomfortable the subject matter may be, those in authority should resist the temptation to damage the UK’s reputation for enabling a free media to hold those in power to account.”

Tim Shipman @ShippersUnbound on Twitter:  "I do think it rather ill behoves journalists to dance on the grave of ministers who pick up the telephone from time to time. I don't think this country needs the security services hunting down journalists' sources."

Guardian editor-in-chief Kath Viner after the paper posted an £800,000 operating profit for the 2018-19 financial year – compared with a £57m loss three years previously: “Thanks to the support of our readers and the incredible hard work and talent of Guardian staff, we have reached an important financial milestone. We are now in a sustainable position, and better able to deliver on our purpose by producing outstanding journalism that understands and illuminates our times.”

Krishnan Guru-Murthy in The Observer: "I wouldn’t want to attack the BBC, but I think any big organisation with tiers of management is inevitably going to have a built-in caution. People are never quite sure if they are going to get the blame for something. The strength of Channel 4 News is that we are a small, nimble newsroom with a single editor, who has a single boss above him at the channel. So it’s a very streamlined process. When decisions need to be made about whether to air something or not, they can be made very quickly and there’s no arse-covering. That may account for our editorial confidence if you like by comparison with some other larger organisations."

Daily Beast reports: “Trump has repeatedly griped to associates about how his predecessor, Barack Obama, has had more Twitter followers than he has, even though—by Trump’s own assessment—he is so much better at Twitter than Obama is.”

Private Eye @PrivateEyeNews magazine on Twitter: "This is your periodic reminder that our editor is not on Twitter, and apart from the single tweet by @realianhislop a decade ago, any account using his name is not him."

Yorkshire Post editor James Mitchinson @JayMitchinson on Twitter: "Forgive my romanticism, but I honestly believe that quality journalism nourishes minds; informs people; connects communities; enhances civic responsibility. If only we were a growth industry..."

Sub editors 1952: National Archive/Newseum

Vincent Bevins @Vinncent on Twitter: "A piece of advice I gave to a young journalist the other day - if someone gives your article a headline that makes you look like an absolute shithead you can make them change it...Don't ask, just tell them it's inaccurate and needs to be improved. It's horrible watching good young writers getting chewed up so some website can try for 5-15% more clicks."

David Banks Retweeted Vincent Bevins

David Banks @DBanksy on Twitter: "This is the equivalent of sending young apprentices to the factory stores to fetch sparks for the grinder, or a bubble for the spirit level...Go on, tell the chief sub to change it, she won’t mind at all, no honestly, full of the milk of human kindness are the subs...While you’re at it, ask them to make sure you’ve got a byline, and while you’re there you may as well check what they’ve done to your intro...*Dials 999* Yeah, we may be needing an ambulance to the newsroom. No, make that a hearse."

Vincent Bevins @Vinncent on Twitter: "Lol this little thread got some traction in England so it has been quote tweeted by like 15 guys saying like 'yeah right good luck with that lads' and if you check their bios they are all like Night Editor at EastEssexRacismRag dot co dot uk."

Amol Rajan @amolrajan on Twitter after tweeting prise to his tv producers: "It is a total and unjust anomaly of so much journalism that so few take the credit for so many. Tried and failed to devise imaginative ways to give subs and desk editors more credit in newspapers. Tweeted shout-outs for producers is the very least we can do."

Media Quotes of the Week: From the murder of journalist Lyra McKee to UKIP candidate accuses press of being 'dirty, dirty smear merchants'

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet in a statement after freelance journalists Lyra McKee was shot dead during rioting in Northern Ireland:  “A young, vibrant life has been destroyed in a senseless act of violence. Our thoughts are with her partner, family and many friends and colleagues. A bright light has been quenched and that plunges all of us into darkness. Her death is a major loss to journalism”

International Federation of Journalists president Philippe Leruth: “We express our deep condolences to Lyra McKee’s family and relatives. Lyra's death is a real loss for press freedom in Europe and for the young generation of journalists. We urge Irish authorities to ensure a full investigation into her death.”

Padraig Reidy @mePadraigReidy on Twitter: "Remember: killing of journalists too often go unpunished. No one has ever been convicted for the murder of Martin O’Hagan, the last reporter killed in Northern Ireland."

The Belfast Telegraph in a leader: "Lyra was a regular contributor to this newspaper, writing on a diverse range of topics from political and social analysis to the acutely personal. She was an immensely gifted writer, intuitive and empathetic, qualities which stemmed from her innate kind and loving nature. In spite of her tender years, Lyra was a reporter of the old school. She was always curious and she was never the sort who would sit behind a computer screen when there was a scene she ought to be at or someone she needed to speak to in person. It will be of little consolation to her heartbroken family but she died doing a job she loved and was born to do."

The Guardian in a leader: "Ms McKee’s death has resonated so widely because of her own remarkable qualities. But its timing reinforces the powerful warning it sends. The Good Friday agreement is precious, as the visit to Stormont by a US delegation led by Nancy Pelosi this week reaffirmed. But it could not, by itself, heal Northern Ireland’s divisions. Instead, it offered a way to manage them. That a young life has been cut short should remind politicians on all sides that the agreement cannot be taken for granted, and that if the urgent task is to safeguard it, the ultimate task must be to move beyond it."

The Times [£] in a leader: "There is still an urgent need to revive devolved government. Intransigence on all sides must not be indulged. The Northern Ireland secretary has still a job to do, though few seem to remain long enough in post for anyone to remember their names, let alone their engagement. The callous killing of a young journalist should jolt London, Dublin and Belfast out of dangerous complacency."

RSF on its latest world press freedom report: "The 2019 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) shows how hatred of journalists has degenerated into violence, contributing to an increase in fear. The number of countries regarded as safe, where journalists can work in complete security, continues to decline, while authoritarian regimes continue to tighten their grip on the media. The RSF Index, which evaluates the state of journalism in 180 countries and territories every year, shows that an intense climate of fear has been triggered — one that is prejudicial to a safe reporting environment. The hostility towards journalists expressed by political leaders in many countries has incited increasingly serious and frequent acts of violence that have fuelled an unprecedented level of fear and danger for journalists."

The Times [£] in a leader: "The 2019 World Press Freedom Index, compiled by the campaigning organisation Reporters Without Borders, evaluates the state of journalism in 180 countries. Britain has risen seven places from last year but is still too low. It reflects how the international climate for journalists has become less free and more threatening. At 33rd place, Britain ranks lower than Ghana and South Africa. It is one of the least free journalistic jurisdictions in Europe. Among the reasons is a draconian threat to the financial position of newspapers that decline to join a state-backed press regulator. Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act of 2013 would require these newspapers to pay both sides’ legal costs in cases of privacy or defamation, even where their reporting is vindicated. Though ministers have undertaken to repeal the relevant section, it remains on the statute book. Its corrosive effect is to deter honest reporters from publishing their findings for fear of arbitrary and punitive financial penalties.This is not the only constraint on press freedom but it is a peculiarly iniquitous one. While born of a moment of political hostility to the press, its insidious effects still persist."

Roger Mosey in the Sunday Times Magazine [£]: "This is a BBC that has been woefully inadequate in creating space on its main television channel for the biggest story faced by the UK in generations: our relationship with the European Union. There is a tradition on BBC1 of landmark current-affairs specials for the significant national moments — from The Question of Ulster in the 1970s to the 9/11 and Iraq War programmes of the 2000s. But the crisis manifested in the past three years over Brexit has had a feeble response in peak time, aside from the occasional stream of breaking news. In a further perplexing move, the BBC News at Ten was cut back in length at the beginning of March when anyone could have spotted that it might be quite a decisive period in politics."

Donald Trump @realDonaldTrump on Twitter: "I wonder if the New York Times will apologize to me a second time, as they did after the 2016 Election. But this one will have to be a far bigger & better apology. On this one they will have to get down on their knees & beg for forgiveness-they are truly the Enemy of the People!"

UKIP MEP candidate Carl Benjamin after the press asked him about his post that he “wouldn’t even rape” Labour MP Jess Phillips, as reported by ITV.com: “I’m not answering your questions, I’m not apologising for anything, you dirty, dirty smear merchants.”

 [£]=paywall

Media Quotes of the Week: Is Julian Assange really a journalist? to don't take Boris Johnson's column seriously says Telegraph its 'comically polemical'

Alan Rusbridger on CNN on the arrest of Julian Assange: "So is Assange really a journalist? The answer in 2019 is a complicated one. New technologies allow millions of people to commit individual acts of journalism. That may not make them "journalists" in a conventional sense, but it does raise the question of whether these journalistic acts deserve the same sort of protection as those carried out by people who have had more traditional careers in journalism. To my mind, Assange is partly a journalist. Part of what he does has involved the selection, editing, verifying and contextualizing of news material -- just as any journalist would do. But Assange is also a publisher, a political activist, a hacker, an information anarchist, a player. Yes, he believes -- sometimes -- in editing. But he also believes in dumping vast oceans of documents, unedited and unredacted, careless to the consequences. One is journalism, the other isn't."

Seamus Dooley, NUJ assistant general secretary, in a statement:"The NUJ is shocked and concerned by the actions of the authorities in relation to Julian Assange. His lawyer has confirmed he has been arrested not just for breach of bail conditions but also in relation to a US extradition request. The UK should not be acting on behalf of the Trump administration in this case. The NUJ recognises the inherent link between and importance of leaked confidential documents and journalism reporting in the public interest. It should be remembered that in April 2010 WikiLeaks released Collateral Murder, a video showing a 2007 US Apache helicopter attack upon individuals in Baghdad, more than 23 people were killed including two Reuters journalists. The manner in which Assange is treated will be of great significance to the practice of journalism."

The Times [£] in a leader: "No one should feel any sympathy for Julian Assange as he swaps the self-imposed captivity of a small room in the Ecuadorean embassy for a prison cell. The Wikileaks founder, who was arrested yesterday when Ecuador revoked his claim for asylum after seven years, was no political prisoner but a fugitive from the Swedish courts, where he was wanted on charges of sexual assault and rape. He took himself to the embassy in London in 2012 only when he had run out of options to avoid extradition. In doing so, he broke British law and denied his two Swedish accusers their right to see him face trial. Nor does Assange deserve sympathy as a self-styled champion of free speech. In its early days, Wikileaks could make some claim to be pursuing legitimate public interest journalism by providing a space for whistleblowers to expose corruption and other wrongdoing. But Assange has since crossed a line, becoming a stooge of oppressive regimes with no interest in press freedom but a strong desire to undermine western democracies, not least when he published material stolen from the Democratic National Committee believed to have been hacked by Russian intelligence services during the US presidential election of 2016."

The Guardian in a leader: "The indictment relates to the secret military and diplomatic files provided by Chelsea Manning, the army whistleblower, which unveiled shocking US abuses and shed light on corrupt and repressive governments worldwide. That Ms Manning is once again in jail, for refusing to give evidence to a secret grand jury in a WikiLeaks investigation, is a disgrace. The importance of the material, published by the Guardian, the New York Times and others, was undeniable. But subsequently we and others strongly disagreed with Mr Assange’s decision to bulk-publish unredacted documents...Mr Assange now faces up to a year in prison for skipping bail. He was wrong to do so. He entered the Ecuadorian embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced allegations of rape and molestation (which he denies), citing fears that Stockholm would hand him to the US. It would be entirely appropriate for Swedish prosecutors to reopen their investigation, as the lawyer representing one of his accusers has requested. None of this alters the dangers of agreeing to his extradition to the US."

The Sunday Times [£] reports: "Labour suspended an official accused of leaking sensitive information to this newspaper just days before it defended the role of whistleblowers following the arrest of the WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange."

Carole Cadwalladr challenging the tech giants at TED 2019: “It is not about left or right, or Leave or Remain, or Trump or not. It’s about whether it’s actually possible to have a free and fair election ever again. As it stands, I don’t think it is. And so my question to you is: Is this what you want? Is this how you want history to remember you? As the handmaidens to authoritarianism that is on the rise all across the world? You set out to connect people and you are refusing to acknowledge that the same technology is now driving us apart...we cannot let these tech companies have this unchecked power. It’s up to us: you, me and all of us. We are the ones who have to take back control.”

Reuters winning the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting: “For expertly exposing the military units and Buddhist villagers responsible for the systematic expulsion and murder of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, courageous coverage that landed its reporters in prison.”

The Independent Press Standards Organisation upholding a complaint against a Boris Johnson column in the Daily Telegraph which inaccurately claimed the public favoured a no deal Brexit: "The publication had not provided any data which supported the author’s claim either that a no-deal Brexit was the option preferred 'by some margin' over the three options listed, or that these represented '…all of the options suggested by pollsters'. Instead it had construed the polls as signalling support for a no deal, when in fact, this was the result of the publication either amalgamating several findings together, or interpreting an option beyond what was set out by the poll as being a finding in support of a no deal Brexit. This represented a failure to take care over the accuracy of the article in breach of Clause 1 (i)."

The Telegraph defending Johnson's column to Ipso: "The writer was entitled to make sweeping generalisations based on his opinions and that the complainant had misconstrued the purpose of the article; it was clearly comically polemical, and could not be reasonably read as a serious, empirical, in-depth analysis of hard factual matters."

[£]=paywall

Media Quotes of the Week: From this story shows why local journalism matters to does Donald Tusk understand the British better than the Brexit press?

Impartial Reporter deputy editor Rodney Edwards @rodneyedwards on Twitter: "This is why local journalism matters. Victims of child sex abuse in Fermanagh have been contacting @impartialrep almost every day since our first story broke. Finally their voices are being heard. But their abusers have never been prosecuted. Serious Qs for police and others."

Paul Caruana Galizia on Tortoise, writing about the murder of his mother, the investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta:  "I left Malta a few hours after my mother’s funeral and haven’t returned since. It is safer and easier, for me, to fight our battles against the governing Labour Party and Maltese state, who continue to block a public inquiry into our mother’s death despite a legal obligation to call one, from London. In the end, what was it all for? Everything. Her journalism was our guiding light on everything. She shaped us and our country into something better. And now that Malta has killed its Cassandra, our Daphne, it is having to face up to what she’s been trying to tell us all along."

Fraser Nelson in the Spectator: "When I became editor, I told my wife that the job was certain to last only last a few years. I thought I’d go down with Rod Liddle, that he and I would drive like Thelma and Louise over the cliff in the name of free speech. We’ve come close a few times, but stayed (just) on the right side: the issue you’re reading is my 500th as editor. Over the past ten years, I’ve had the great pleasure of meeting many readers, and their most common plea is ‘Don’t tone down Rod’. It’s just as well: I’m not sure anyone could."

Society of Editors executive director Ian Murray responds to measures announced by the government to crack down on internet harms:  "The creation of new regulations to protect the vulnerable in society as outlined by the Secretary of State should be and will be broadly welcomed by anyone who feels the digital sphere has become too lawless.But the devil is always in the detail and where the white paper moves into areas concerning the spread of misinformation - so called fake news - we should all be concerned. Who will decide what is fake news? This form of censorship in the hands of those who would shackle the press and curtail freedom of expression would be disastrous for our free society. There is no use pretending there are not politicians who wish to silence some debates who would use this as a weapon if permitted."

Guido Fawkes on the internet harms proposal: "There is also a risk that a future Corbyn govenment will use the legislation against political opponents. When you see the likes of Owen Jones being applauded for describing the Spectator, Sun, Mail, Telegraph, Express and of course Guido, as “spreading hate”, you can easily imagine the legislation being used by a Corbyn government to close down dissident media. This is a dangerous path being foolishly and short-sightedly cheered on by newspapers who think it will scupper the global platforms who are eating into their advertising revenue."

Sun on Sunday political editor David Wooding @DavidWooding on Twitter: "Commons leak inquiry. Torrent of water gushing through roof of the chamber. Unfortunately, it is pouring into the Press Gallery rather than the drips who can’t decide how to Brexit. Stop Press: Sitting suspended."

Jeremy Hunt in the Sun: "Everyone has an interest in allowing journalists to do their jobs because countries with a free media are always better governed. If you look up the ten least corrupt nations in the world, as ranked by Transparency International last year, seven also appear in the top ten of the Press Freedom Index. It is not hard to see why. Powerful people will be less likely to abuse their positions if there is a real risk of being found out. Newspapers do make mistakes and journalists are only human. But none of us would wish to live in a nation where the media is gagged. Britain’s job is to take that message to the world, and I will do everything possible to help journalists to work in safety."

Independent Press Standards Orgaisation rejecting a complaint by the NUJ against the Newsquest-owned Cumberland News over a report of a strike by its members last December: "The Code does not include a requirement for balance. However, there may be certain circumstances where a publication’s presentation of a particular subject, for example, through its decision to include certain pieces of information and omit others, may render the article misleading. This was not such a case."



Norman Giller on the Sports Journalists' Association website on reporting from the new Spurs stadium: "Today’s journalists are spoon-fed background information and match details, but the challenge is just the same as ‘in our day’ to find the right words at the right time when that first whistle blows. But because they send their words into the ether they do not have to clear the hurdles that faced us, with copy takers saying: 'Are you staff …?' 'How d’you spell your name …?' 'Is there much more of this …?' 'I can’t hear you because of the crowd in the background …'I'm changing my typewriter ribbon, you’ll have to wait …' "

Peter Sands, SMS Retweeted Metro Newspaper UK

Peter Sands @petersands55 on Twitter: "The only people in the UK truly enjoying the Brexit chaos are the @MetroUKNews front page subs."

David Yelland on Twitter: "Donald Tusk understands the British at this moment better than my successor currently editing The Sun. His intel and his instincts have outmanoeuvred the Brexit press."