Media Quotes of the Week: From McDonnell says Labour would break up ownership of UK media to the Guardian attacks the Sun over Muslims' poll

Pic: BBC

Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell quoted in the Morning Star: “This last seven weeks that we’ve been in administration, the media assault on us has been, I think, a disgrace. I’ve never been comfortable with the way media ownership is in this country, but it does mean, to be frank, we have to commit ourselves now to media reform … break up the ownership of our media.”

Tim Yeo filmed by undercover insight reporters

Martin Ivens, the editor of The Sunday Times, quoted in The Times [£], after the libel action brought by ex-MP Tim Yeo over lobbying allegations was thrown out: “This is a victory for investigative journalism. It vindicates the role of the press in exposing the clandestine advocacy by MPs for undisclosed interests. The Sunday Times’s Insight team has a long history of reporting on the conduct of politicians and is proud to have forced reform of standards in public life.”

Bob Satchwell, executive director of the Society of Editors: "Every time journalists write or say: ‘following a Freedom of Information request’ they should send a tenner to the Campaign for Freedom of Information which desperately needs our support to maintain its vital work."

Jon Snow in the Observer defending BBC reporter Graham Satchell for showing emotion while covering Paris terrorist attacks: "Journalism makes no sense to the citizen without some emotional engagement. That doesn’t mean we have to sensationalise, or struggle to be emotional in our reporting. But we do have to tell it like it is. If we deny the impact an event has upon us, we deny not only ourselves, but those who depend on us for at least some of their information."

The old Manchester Guardian and Evening News building

Guardian editor Katharine Viner on plans for the paper to return to its Manchester roots and expand reporting in the north of England: “I’m delighted to be building on the Guardian’s fine heritage in Manchester by putting more reporters on the ground to get scoops, break news and provide context and analysis about the north of England.” 

John Simpson, quoted by the Huffington Post: "I suppose it's the dawn of the new century, but I'm really very kind of depressed about the way that newspapers and television has developed. The jobs are fewer, the pay is much much less. I'm afraid we're back to where we used to be a century or more ago, in the late Victorian or early Edwardian period, when journalists were pretty much self-financed. So all those courses in media studies which were producing really high qualified and able people have suddenly kind of hatched up in the sands because the money to employ them is not there any more."

John Witherow, editor of The Times, interviewed in Press Gazette: “We have not cut back on journalists, if anything we have invested in them. And that’s our firm commitment... people will only pay for subscriptions if you have quality. You shoot yourself in the foot by cutting back on journalism, because they won’t subscribe and then our whole model falls apart.”

Douglas Jehl, the Washington Post’s foreign editor, after the paper's correspondent Jason Rezaian was jailed for an unspecified term in Iran: “Every day that Jason is in prison is an injustice. He has done nothing wrong. Even after keeping Jason in prison 488 days so far, Iran has produced no evidence of wrongdoing. His trial and sentence are a sham, and he should be released immediately.”

liz gerard ‏@gameoldgirl on Twitter: "There comes a point when @dailyexpressuk crosses the line from ludicrous to irresponsible."

The Guardian bashes the Sun in a leader: "Terrorists only win if they force us to abandon our way of life and instead live in terror. What better way to do their work for them than to make up a story that leaves Britons believing that 20% of a particular community wants to blow them up."

Sun managing editor Stig Abell in a letter to the Guardian: "It is perhaps not surprising that the Guardian chose to get angry at the Sun’s poll in your editorial. It is ironic, though, that the Guardian makes play of complaints to the newspaper industry regulator Ipso [Independent Press Standards Organisation], an organisation it has itself declined to join."

IPSO in a statement on the Sun's front page: "IPSO’s policy when dealing with a large number of complaints about a particular issue that requires investigation is to select a lead complaint. In this case, IPSO has selected MEND (Muslim Engagement & Development) as the lead complaint. We have written to The Sun to inform them that we have commenced an investigation into this matter. As of this morning, Thursday 25th November, IPSO has received around 2,600 complaints relating to the article. The majority of these refer to Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors’ Code of Practice."

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