Media Quotes of the Week: From journalists facing biggest lay-offs in years in hollowed out industry to vulture capitalist swoops on Newsquest's US owner

From the Reuters Institute Journalism, Media and Technology Trends and Predictions 2019 report by Nic Newman: "Journalism will continue to be hollowed out by structural shifts that have already led to significant falls in advertising revenue. Publishers are looking to subscriptions to make up the difference but the limits of this are likely to become apparent in 2019. Taken together these trends are likely to lead to the biggest wave of journalistic lay-offs in years – weakening further the ability of publishers to hold populist politicians and powerful business leaders to account."

Owen Jones @OwenJones84 on Twitter: "When one of us on the left is hurt or killed, which will happen, the entire right wing press and their so called “journalists”, who could have chosen to take a job which actually helps people, are all partly responsible and let’s put that on record now."

Hannah Al-Othman @HannahAlOthman on Twitter on Owen Jones: "The ignorance & privilege of this is astounding. Some people have to take jobs that pay the bills - not everyone gets handed a column in the guardian. Junior reporters trying to make a career aren’t guilty of anything."

Emily Bell in The Atlantic: "The real damage that Trump has rendered to press access is in his general attitude of undermining journalists’ credibility, particularly those he sees as investigating his affairs, or those who are more generally considered to be adversarial. Trump’s lack of respect toward women reporters and reporters of color has widespread effects, too. Online harassment of reporters is flourishing, and women and nonwhite reporters are particularly vulnerable to it."

Mark Di Stefano of BuzzFeedNews revealing BBC journalists have been told top stop stating "the BBC understands" in news reports because it sounds pompous: "It also happens to be a running joke among those in the British media. Journalists often accuse the corporation of using the phrase "BBC understands" in relation to stories reported by other outlets, which the BBC has then confirmed with its sources."

Verified account@Joelcpj

Jeremy Hunt Retweeted Reuters Top News

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt @JeremyHunt on Twitter on after an appeal by Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo in Myanmar against their imprisonment was turned down: "The thin red line between open and closed societies is whether journalists are able to do their job. Due process at best questionable in this case so please Aung San Suu Kyi take a personal interest in the future of these two brave journalists."

Joel Simon @Joelcpj on Twitter: "This has been a complete miscarriage of justice, from start to finish. It has done grave damage to Myanmar's standing in the world, and sullied the reputation of Aung San Suu Kyi. It's time for a pardon. #JournalismIsNotACrime #PressFreedom"

Federica Bedendo, NUJ Newsquest group chapel MoC, in a statement: "We are really concerned about the news of a potential acquisition by MNG Enterprises Inc. to acquire Gannett. Journalists within Newsquest already think this company has hit rock bottom and the prospect of being acquired by an organisation that's renowned for cost cutting and job slashing isn't going to do anything to benefit our titles or indeed our working conditions.

Chris Morley, Newsquest NUJ national coordinator, in a statement: "The proprietorship of Gannett over Newsquest as its UK operation has been a sorry tale of shameless cost-cutting that has threatened to bring low once mighty titles through the pursuit of unsustainable profits and starvation of investment. But the reports coming out of the US from those who should know, is that Gannett itself is being pursued by the most predatory of vulture capitalist corporate raiders who are far distant from the needs and responsibilities of a modern media company."