Quotes of the Week

A posting on HoldtheFrontPage over Trinity Mirror's announcement of cuts in the Midlands: "This story curdles my blood, and not just because of the job losses, which are sickening. George Orwell (remember Newspeak in 1984) would have had a field day with "the two titles will in future be run by a combined editorial content-gathering team". For heaven's sake! You make them sound like farm labourers at harvest time."

Reporters Without Borders on Tehran prosecutor general Said Mortazavi and the crackdown on journalists in Iran since 12 June: "It is Mortazavi who issues the warrants to the intelligence ministry and prosecutor’s office agents who arrest 'suspects'. He prepares the prosecution cases, drafts the indictments and oversees interrogation. On the basis of past experience, we believe he participates actively in interrogation sessions."

BBC head of newsroom Mary Hockaday defends BBC against claims there was too much coverage of the death of Michael Jackson: "It is clear that Michael Jackson meant different things to different generations, both among our audiences and among our own staff. There are some who had followed him as a boy star, but there's also a large number of younger people who never saw him perform at his height but are only too aware of the controversy about his personal life and his increasingly eccentric appearance and behaviour. There was also the expectation around his comeback concerts in London. Looking at media output around the world, it was clear that his death was provoking international shock and big audience consumption."

Newspaper Society warning over new Government policy which could see statutory advertising taken away from local press: “No impact assessment was carried out on the implications upon the local community and the regional and local press of such a radical and damaging government policy. It would be completely counter to the public interest, reducing public awareness in two ways – by the public notice failing to reach its interested audience and by generally undermining the regional and local press and independent news services by its adverse economic impact upon them.”