Friday 8 July 2011

Quotes of the week: Hacking and death of the NoW

James Murdoch on the decision to close the News of the World: "The good things the News of the World does, however, have been sullied by behaviour that was wrong. Indeed, if recent allegations are true, it was inhuman and has no place in our Company.The News of the World is in the business of holding others to account. But it failed when it came to itself."

Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger on the paper's phone hacking investigation: "The full truth of what was going on at the News of the World is dramatically being stripped bare. Some kind of mental dam has been broken. MPs, journalists, regulators and police are speaking confidently again as they should. The palpably intimidating spectre of an apparently untouchable media player has been burst."

Allison Pearson in the Telegraph:
"The News of the World has made a fortune publishing righteous, mawkish stories about murdered children. Now, surprise, surprise, the paper itself turns out to have preyed on the dead."

Reed Business Information's editorial development manager Adam Tinworth: "From now on, I'm a blogger not a journalist. Don't want my credentials dragged down by association with newspaper hacks."

The Independent in a leader: "What the phone-hacking scandal has shown, as it has evolved, is that – for all the scum that sticks to some journalism – Britain still has a free, independent and ethical press, and it remains as essential to the nation's wellbeing as ever."

Peter Oborne on David Cameron in the Telegraph: "He should never have employed Andy Coulson, the News of the World editor, as his director of communications. He should never have cultivated Rupert Murdoch. And – the worst mistake of all – he should never have allowed himself to become a close friend of Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of the media giant News International, whose departure from that company in shame and disgrace can only be a matter of time."

Times editor James Harding as reported by Media Week: "I think the issue for The Times is to report it [accurately] and clearly. I am more concerned simply of the fact that if what has alleged to have happened has happened, then it will shame not just the people involved, not just that particular newspaper, but newspapers in general. And the public will take a very, very dim view of journalism in general."

Jon Gaunt on Question Time: "The wrong red-top has gone. Rebekah should go".

Blogger Guido Fawkes: "Obviously a line was crossed, catching out a liar by listening to their voicemail can be sold to the public. Raiding the privacy of suffering citizens cannot. This crisis is monstrous for Murdoch, but the Telegraph, BBC and Guardian Media Group are having an absolute field day. Far from being a crisis for them, this is all their Christmases rolled into one."

Outraged NoW supporting journalist: "I'll never buy the Guardian again."

No comments: