Media Quotes of the Week: From Government backs off press regulation role to is the UK media going soft on Nigel Farage and Ukip?

Culture Secretary Sajid Javid in The Times [£]: “In terms of the role of this department . . . the work has been done, and it is now a decision for the press what they want to do next. I don’t see any further role for government in this. Notwithstanding the fact that any industry has its bad apples, I think our press is the best in the world. It is fearless without favour.”

Ex-Sun editor David Yelland@davidyelland on Twitter: "Quiet surrender on a Saturday: Govt has “no further role” in regulating the press, says new culture sec Sajid Javid."

Johnston Press boss ashley highfield ‏@ashleyhi on Twitter: "Culture Sec. Sajid Javid says in today’s Times that govt has ‘no further role’ in press regulation meaning IPSO will go ahead uncontested."

The Times [£] in a leader: "Mr Javid should be congratulated for recognising where the truth lies in this matter. His instincts appear to be those of an intelligent ethical democrat. The institutions of an established democracy such as Britain can seem stronger and more resilient than in fact they are. In truth, the principles on which they are founded need constantly vigilant defence. One such principle is that a free press must hold the political class to account without any regulatory interference from that class. Mr Javid seems to understand this essential principle."

Lord Black of Brentwood, speaking at the Scottish Newspaper Society: "What has happened is that politicians have laid out how they expect the regulation of the press to be organised and they now have the tools to make that compulsory if they choose to do so. That involvement ... could easily take politicians and governments to the heart of the newsroom and what you can and cannot publish. That for me is an incredibly chilling, authoritarian prospect hiding behind the facade of an arcane constitutional document signed by Her Majesty the Queen. If ever there was a wolf in sheep's clothing - this one with a crown on it - it is this."

Sir Alan Moses QC, who will chair the Independent Press Standards Organisation: "This new organisation will have to listen to and learn from  the Press and their critics in the period ahead.   To those who have voiced doubts as to the ability of IPSO to meet the demands of independent regulation, I say that I have spent over forty years pursuing the profession of barrister and judge whose hallmarks are independent action and independent judgment. I do not intend to do away with that independence now."

Some believe this is the work of Banksy on a wall in Battersea

David Sanderson in The Times [£] on Max Clifford: "Clifford is not the biggest star to have been ensnared in the dragnet of Operation Yewtree. He is perhaps the one who best defines our age. In his autobiography he recounts his role in the downfall of so many public figures of our time and admits that he 'got a huge buzz from being in the middle of a great story'. As he walked from the court yesterday, to three days of freedom before sentencing on Friday, he said it was 'not the first time' he had been the story. He knew this is the one story that he will be remembered for."

Jeremy Paxman says he is quitting Newsnight because he: "Should rather like to go to bed at much the same time as most people."

Dan Hodges on his Telegraph blog: "There will lots of excited speculation about Paxman’s replacement. But the fact is that whoever it is, the BBC will in many ways be delaying the inevitable. In truth, the place people now go at 10.30pm to get their current affairs fix isn't the TV, but Twitter."

Piers Morgan ‏@piersmorgan  on Twitter: "Can't decide which Jeremy to replace" - #Newsnight #TopGear

Tony Gallagher ‏@gallaghereditor on Twitter: "Downfall of Mercer a great example of @BBCPanorama & @Telegraph joint work; a coup for Claire Newell & Holly Watt too."

Mike Lowe ‏@cotslifeeditor : on Twitter: "Today's big media spat on Twitter? It's @TheMirrorStyle versus @guardianstyle over how to use No1 (or No 1). These things matter to subs."

Jon Snow: 25 years ago

Alex Thomson on 25 years of Jon Snow at Channel 4 News: "The anger of youth to make it better, to stop it being the way it is, has never left him. For that alone he has rightly come to embody in the studio, all that Channel 4 News should aspire to."

Guardian readers' editor Chris Elliott after the paper was hoaxed by an April Fool story (above) reported by the Associated Press agency: "Other media commentators picked up on the juxtaposition of the hoax coming two days after the announcement of the Pulitzer prize for the Guardian and the Washington Post. Well, fair enough. The Guardian is not above mocking others' mistakes, and so broad shoulders should be presented and no whinging."

Nick Cohen in The Observer on the media's treatment of Nigel Farage: "You might expect that Britain's famously aggressive media would tear into his multiple deceits. Yet so tame has their treatment of Nigael Farage been, so indulgent and complicit, viewers were surprised when the BBC's political editor found the courage last week to raise a timorous voice and ask him why he was employing his German wife rather than giving a British job to a British worker. Broadcasters are ferocious when they tackle mainstream politicians, but are as eager to please as wet-tongued labradors when they meet Ukip."