Friday 7 August 2015

Media Quotes of the Week: From Andy Burnham's 'real job' on trade mags to was Jack the Ripper a journalist?


Andy Burnham in GQ on his days as a trade press journalist: "I actually worked for Container Management, Passenger Rail Management and Tank World, which was not military tanks, because that would have been quite exciting; these were bulk liquid and powder movement tanks. Have I Got News For You bid for me almost ten times a year and the reason they do it, I am certain, is they have some of my old articles - so I refuse it every time. It was a very real job stuck in an office in Brentford and it was the real world. Before that I worked on a local newspaper very briefly as well."


Guardian's Open door column reveals the results of a poll of 630 core readers on the Labour leadership election: "51% of those core Guardian readers polled say Corbyn is their preferred choice as the next Labour leader. He leads his rivals by some way, with just 7% supporting Yvette Cooper and 6% supporting both Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall."

Owen Jones in the Guardian: "If you are a budding New Labourite, there are plenty of prominent media commentators to look to for inspiration. But while you may find an abundance of negativity, sneer, and pseudo-Freudian psychoanalysis, you’ll struggle to find any coherent vision."

Matthew Parris in The Times [£]: "May I release The Guardian from its agonies over the choice of new leader for the Labour party? Anguished silence reigns on the editorial front. Doubtless a battle rages within the newspaper’s breast between the “let’s have a real socialist” and the “let’s have a woman” tendencies. But even as they struggle to decide what to advise, I’m already guessing. They’ll funk it, won’t they? Next week, as voting starts, readers will be reminded that here at last is Labour’s chance to choose a woman, on the other hand here at last is Labour’s chance to reconnect with its soul . . . and . . . er, well, it’s a tough one, readers. Oh for Pete’s sake, Guardianistas, toss a coin. Prove me wrong."




















Stig Abell ‏@StigAbell on Twitter: "An experiment today: we've put four exclusive splashes on the front. Mail Online doesn't write itself, you know. "

Ian Burrell in the Independent"The Sun is back on the attack but it is now more careful and even has Stig Abell, former director of the old Press Complaints Commission, editing its Monday edition. Rebekah might feel it is safe enough for her return."


Tim Walker ‏@ThatTimWalker on Twitter: "Has a police force in the world more experience in investigating dead politicians, dead TV stars & living but innocent journalists than ours?"

Nick Cohen ‏@NickCohen4 on Twitter: "Will Wiltshire police be holding a press conference outside Ted Heath's home to announce that a brothel keeper has rebutted their story?"


Mark Borkowski on his blog: "Cecil’s cause ignited social media like nothing before. Hundreds of one-star reviews flooded onto the Google page for Palmer’s dental practice. The levels of vitriol recorded here could rank Palmer as the most loathed dentist since Laurence Olivier’s Nazi torturer in Marathon Man. The truth-finding integrity of the tabloid media was on full display as Dr Palmer’s past misdemeanors were dragged up as further fuel to the lynch mob. The momentum of hate was seemingly too much for Palmer’s PR consultants, J. Austin & Associates, who dropped their client after 1 day. While we don’t know if he has recruited any other crisis managers you can be sure that the cost to his reputation will be greater than the $50,000 he paid for a shot at Cecil. The most that Palmer can hope for is that, like other infamous nobodies thrust into the slimelight (the cat bin lady et al), he will return to the nowhere whence he came."


The Telegraph in a leader"Newcastle United, under the ownership of Mike Ashley, is henceforth to restrict access to its players and manager to 'preferred media partners' – a single broadcaster and newspaper. This will undoubtedly bring in revenue. But the club’s managing director has admitted that the deal is designed to 'control and reinforce the positive messages the club wished to deliver'. There are many reasons to be critical of Newcastle’s progress under Mr Ashley, the billionaire businessman behind Sports Direct. But, while they have been allowed to, newspapers have also freely celebrated its successes. No longer. Initially it will be the club’s fans who lose out from this censorship. But if the idea catches on – and the deflection of justified scrutiny is certainly tempting to many well beyond football – we will all be the poorer."


Peter Hitchens in the Mail on Sunday: "Please continue to pray, if you can, for my friend Jason Rezaian, now wrongly held in an Iranian prison for more than a year. Jason, son of a Persian father and an American mother, went to live in Tehran so that he could report truthfully on that fascinating, misrepresented place. He took me there a few years ago and opened my eyes to much I had misunderstood or never known. His chief concern was to improve understanding between his father’s people and his mother’s people. He was mysteriously arrested and is still being held, despite the outbreak of peace between the USA and the Iranian government. There is no justification for this. Let him go."


Dr Wynne Weston-Davies in the Telegraph claims Jack the Ripper was a journalist: "He names the Ripper as Francis Spurzheim Craig, who at the time of the murders in 1888 was a 51-year-old reporter covering the police courts and inquests in the East End of London."

[£]=paywall
  • Historical quote of the week: Daily Mail reporter John Edwards, as recorded by John Swain in River of Time: "I've stood on so many doorsteps, I think of myself as a milk bottle."

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