Thursday, 2 July 2015

Media Quotes of the Week: From has social media turned us into a nation of voyeurs? to more support for Gareth Davies over Met's harassment notice


Sid James in Carry On Abroad

Simon Kelner in the Independent on the media coverage given to the breakup of Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk's marriage:
"Social media has turned us into a nation of voyeurs, and those who know about these things have clearly estimated that there is an appetite among the general public to read about the Danczuks. Not because of Simon’s work in campaigning against paedophiles (his book about Cyril Smith led to an inquiry at Westminster into historical child abuse) but because his wife has large breasts, and she’s not afraid to show them off. We may be a sensitive, mature society, but when it comes to a woman with big bazoomas, we are about as evolved as Sid James in a Carry On movie."


Roger Mosey in the Guardian"Politicians should not waver in their commitment to listed events. The biggest sporting moments should be available to everyone in the UK, irrespective of their financial means. Imagine London 2012 behind a paywall, with the triumphs of Bradley Wiggins and Jessica Ennis seen only by those who paid a subscription; or contemplate the future of the Champions League now wholly owned by BT or the lessons of cricket only live on Sky. However good a job the pay broadcasters do, public service and maximum access for all are still things that matter hugely in the world of sport."


Neil Wallis after being found not guilty of phone hacking, as reported by Press Gazette: "I just want to say I will never get over this. I've been virtually unable to work for four years. It's taken my health, my family's health and all because of a campaign against journalists."


Jane Martinson in the Guardian: "Where is the Taylor Swift of news? Not for glamour or youth, though lord knows the business could do with both, but someone with the singer’s ability to convince technology companies to pay for their work."


Charles Moore at the end of his column in the Telegraph: "These pages have been redesigned. It is a known fact about redesigns that words are always lost in the process. Why is it, then, that any words are left in newspapers at all? It is because, I am glad to say, words never stop growing. They can be cut back by determined gardeners, but they will only creep back in again. Watch this space."



Jeremy Clarkson in the Sunday Times [£]: "I hate Which? magazine. I hate every single thing it does and every single thing it stands for. I hate having to share a planet with people whose job is to test kettles. And I hate, even more, people who read their findings before deciding what sort to buy. It’s an effing kettle, for God’s sake. Just buy the blue one."


Index on Censorship ‏@IndexCensorship on Twitter backs Croydon Advertiser reporter Gareth Davies over the issuing of a harassment notice against him: "Reporters who put questions to criminals should not receive police harassment letters."


Investigative journalist Andrew Penman in the Mirror urges readers to sign the Press Gazette petition backing Gareth Davies: "Every week I  confront alleged rogues, so I presume it is only a matter of time before the police come banging on my door. That’s a view I base on the appalling experience of local newspaper reporter Gareth Davies."


Bob Satchwell, executive director of the Society of Editors: "It is not the place of the police to threaten journalists about who they question. Ironically, anti-harassment law came about as a result of media campaigns to prevent stalking. Journalists know the law and its principles are enshrined in editorial codes for both newspapers and broadcasters. With those constraints in place, the police should have no role in telling journalists who they should or should not question."


News Media Association chief executive David Newell in a letter to the IPCC: "It is a matter of the deepest concern to us and our members that journalists complying with their ethical and legal responsibility of seeking a right of reply to, or comment on, a story they are investigating could have PINs [Police Information Notices] imposed on them for doing nothing more than complying with the requirements to which they will be held by the Courts as a matter of defamation or by IPSO as a matter of accuracy.”

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