Simon Heffer on MailOnline on the demise of The Dandy, Britain's oldest comic which is to go online only in December: "Children from eight to 80 felt a kick from the hob-nailed boot of harsh reality yesterday. The Dandy, a staple of so many British childhoods, and the nation’s oldest surviving comic, is on the brink of closure...After all these years, so much of the D.C. Thomson world has passed into our culture: a world in which children waged a constant battle of spiteless amusement against their elders, and got nothing worse than a clip round the ear for it, seemed to sum up not just a more black-and-white approach to life, but came close to representing that most elusive of qualities, the true nature of Britishness."
Simon O'Neill on Twitter: "Working at Derby Telegraph in 90s was like being in a real life edition of The Dandy. Both now things of the past."
Jeremy Vine on Twitter:"How to get on newspaper frontpages: (1) Stand near camera (2) Open A level results (3) Scream YES! (4) Jump and wave (5) Wear skimpy clothes."
Tom Bradbury in the Radio Times on how he and Prince William are shocked by the fallout from Buckingham Palace's decision to alert police after details of their conversation on mobiles appeared in the News of the World, as reported by the Guardian: "We agreed that there was some potential security implication and it was then up to them to go to the police, as they did. Ultimately, it was that tiny nexus on a trivial, unimportant, irrelevant story that triggered this avalanche...I had no idea this was going to happen, and neither did he [William]. Have we both occasionally been quite shocked by the scale of the avalanche? Yeah. Do I occasionally feel uncomfortable about it? Yup. A free press is a pretty critical part of the democratic mix and I would feel nervous about that being diluted."
Roy Greenslade on his blog about the proposal by Johnston Press to axe three editors' posts in the Midlands: "According to an internal company announcement, a 'consultation period' should be completed by 7 September. I imagine that to be a redefinition of the word consultation."
Grey Cardigan in Press Gazette's Journalism Weekly on the Olympics: "Those Geeks might sneer at what they call the Dead Tree Industry, but London 2012 provided a superb example of how grubby old newsprint can still work its magic. The Times deserves a special mention for that excellent series of wraps, but the 28-page supplements in the Sunday Times were an absolute joy. Superb job, chaps."
Iliffe News and Media staff memo on plans to scrap subs, as reported by HoldtheFrontPage: “Although there could be some reduction in head count if our proposal to eliminate the sub editing role is confirmed, it is important to recognise that the overall aim of our strategy is to increase our audience through the delivery of high quality content.”
Homer in post on HoldtheFrontPage: "Having started on an Iliffe title, and having worked as a sub on several of their titles, I must say this news saddens me more than almost anything I have heard about the future of newspaper production in recent years. And that is saying something! Quite apart from the practical issues at hand in having no people to taste/correct/enhance/headline reporters’ copy and photographers’ images, or to design pages, what does this say to the sub editors working on the titles? Well clearly, it says you’re not wanted any more. So imagine you are one of those subs, who has been the ‘glue’ that holds newspapers together for donkey’s years, and imagine how you must be feeling today."
Nick Hart, posting on Press Gazette: "So, no subs, and reporters who can't write any better than their rapidly-diminishing pool of readers, the ones who will soon forego 'news' websites for other better-informed, better-written, more entertaining, 'cooler' and more responsive single-interest alternatives. Goodnight Vienna."
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