Media Quotes of the Week: From put local and frontline journalists on press review panel to is it time to pension off press regulator Impress?

NUJ president Tim Dawson on Press Gazette on the Cairncross Review into the future sustainability of the press, announced by Culture Secretary Matt Hancock : "There are plenty of interesting names on his panel – a major newspaper publisher, an eminent former editor, an online newspaper editor and a ‘brand strategist’ among them. What the panel lacks, extraordinarily, is anyone representing journalists themselves."

Steve Dyson on HoldTheFrontPage: "I hate to be a party pooper, but this new Cairncross Review into the future of the UK press has got a worrying ‘lack of local depth’ smell about it. Let’s take Dame Frances Cairncross herself: her experience as a senior editor at The Economist and an economic columnist for The Guardian gives her plenty of insight into national business journals and broadsheets. But how aware is she of the paucity of the regional press, its lack of resources to staff local news properly, and its rapidly dwindling stature in the minds of most readers?"

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet in a statement: "When the government announced its external review to examine the sustainability of the UK's press, the NUJ welcomed it. Today the Culture Secretary announced the review is to be headed by Dame Frances Cairncross and has named the panel. None of those named represent journalists on the ground who can explain exactly the effect of the present troubles in the industry are having on their ability to produce quality journalism and connect with their communities. We hope Matt Hancock can ensure that the journalist's voice is heard during the process."

Mark Di Stefano @MarkDiStef on Twitter: "I’m told the FT has responded to @ShippersUnbound late night tweet (“Do any of the judges actually read newspapers? … The FT is a pompous Remoaner comic”) which was later deleted. The newsroom sent a bottle of pink champagne to him."

The Times [£] in a leader: "A new study, published in the journal Science, reports that fake news travels “faster, deeper and more broadly” than the truth. It may concern politics, terrorism, natural disasters, health or finance. Rather than automated systems, its vectors are likely to be ordinary people, tweeting, retweeting and sharing. Irrespective of how lies begin, a great many of us may be complicit in spreading them."

Danny Baker‏ @prodnose on Twitter on working for the NME: "The NME never once asked me where I studied. Or what certificates I had. Or where I saw myself in 5 years. They just sent you to see some band and asked for 400 words on them. If they liked it they'd give you an album to review. Next thing you know you're in New York..."

Ben Macintyre in The Times [£]: "NME had a reputation for being the towering arbiter of popular musical taste. Now, as with so much internet-driven opinion, you the listener are the critic who matters most and not some coked-up, self-conscious pop guru trying to write like Hunter S Thompson."

Daily Mail reports: "A university employing the founder of the anti-Press body Hacked Off was at the centre of a racism row last night over donations worth tens of thousands of pounds from unrepentant former neo-fascist tycoon Max Mosley through a family trust. Kingston University said it had received one donation of £45,000 from the Mosley family trust to fund ‘historical research’ for Brian Cathcart, a professor of journalism, to write a book on the Battle of Waterloo."

Brian Cathcart on Inforrm's blog : "Today, Max Mosley supports the cause of press reform, a cause I see as vital both for the protection of ordinary people in this country and for the future of decent journalism. With others he is working in legal and constitutional ways, not for something subversive, but for something that could hardly be more respectable and conventional – the implementation of the recommendations of the Leveson Inquiry and of the package of measures passed by Parliament in 2013 with the support of every single political party."

BBC director general Tony Hall, appealing to the United Nations in Geneva to protect the human rights of BBC journalists and their families in Iran: “The BBC is taking the unprecedented step of appealing to the United Nations because our own attempts to persuade the Iranian authorities to end their harassment have been completely ignored. In fact, during the past nine years, the collective punishment of BBC Persian Service journalists and their families has worsened. This is not just about the BBC – we are not the only media organisation to have been harassed or forced to compromise when dealing with Iran. In truth, this story is much wider: it is a story about fundamental human rights. We are now asking the community of nations at the UN to support the BBC and uphold the right to freedom of expression.”

Ray Snoddy in The Journalist: "It is more than time to rule out formally a Leveson Two and finally accept the Leveson error of state oversight of newspaper regulation. Then acknowledge the reality of independent press regulator IPSO, despite its imperfections, and pension off the Gilbert and Sullivan Press Recognition Panel and its only child Impress."

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