Quotes of the Week

Rupert Murdoch on plans to increase New York coverage in the Wall Street Journal: "When you open up a paper today, the most depressing news is often about newspapers themselves. Here in New York, we're doing just the opposite. We're adding a whole new section and taking on reporters and editors."

Maziar Bahari, the Newsweek correspondent held in an Iranian jail last year: "It is important that the Iranian authorities are aware that their actions have an impact on world opinion and it is invaluable for detained journalists to know that their peers are campaigning on their behalf."

Liz Hodgkinson on Gentleman Ranters on why freelances should strike against falling fees: "Unless something like this is done, journalism will soon turn into a vanity profession, where people just write for the privilege of seeing their names in the paper, not to earn a living. And when that day dawns journalism, as we Ranters understand it, will be dead for ever. Journalists should be strong, brave and outspoken, not meek little mice."

Jeff Randall on the Today programme: "I don't see how an independent, small newspaper can survive for ever in a world that is so tough, where advertising is shrinking and you've got the BBC parking its tanks on its lawn saying 'we can do all that for free, c'mon boys help yourself."

Justice Secretary Jack Straw on why he has cut the success fees in "no win, no fee" libel cases: "Reducing the success fees charged by lawyers in no-win, no-fee defamation cases will help level the playing field so that scientists, journalists and writers can continue to publish articles which are in the public interest without incurring such disproportionate legal bills. This is particularly important for ensuring open scientific exchange and protecting the future of our regional media, who have small budgets but play a large role in our democracy."

AA Gill in the Sunday Times on the MPs' expenses scandal: "The old press understood the magnitude of the story and got on with it. Television, on the other hand, lagged behind, stood blinking in its own arc lights. It seemed overwhelmed by the amount of information and the speed of revelation. None of the news channels ever looked like getting ahead of or on top of the story. The studios were full of talking heads brought in to comment on what the papers were saying. "