NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet in a statement after freelance journalists Lyra McKee was shot dead during rioting in Northern Ireland: “A young, vibrant life has been destroyed in a senseless act of violence. Our thoughts are with her partner, family and many friends and colleagues. A bright light has been quenched and that plunges all of us into darkness. Her death is a major loss to journalism”
International Federation of Journalists president Philippe Leruth: “We express our deep condolences to Lyra McKee’s family and relatives. Lyra's death is a real loss for press freedom in Europe and for the young generation of journalists. We urge Irish authorities to ensure a full investigation into her death.”
Padraig Reidy @mePadraigReidy on Twitter: "Remember: killing of journalists too often go unpunished. No one has ever been convicted for the murder of Martin O’Hagan, the last reporter killed in Northern Ireland."
The Belfast Telegraph in a leader: "Lyra was a regular contributor to this newspaper, writing on a diverse range of topics from political and social analysis to the acutely personal. She was an immensely gifted writer, intuitive and empathetic, qualities which stemmed from her innate kind and loving nature. In spite of her tender years, Lyra was a reporter of the old school. She was always curious and she was never the sort who would sit behind a computer screen when there was a scene she ought to be at or someone she needed to speak to in person. It will be of little consolation to her heartbroken family but she died doing a job she loved and was born to do."
The Guardian in a leader: "Ms McKee’s death has resonated so widely because of her own remarkable qualities. But its timing reinforces the powerful warning it sends. The Good Friday agreement is precious, as the visit to Stormont by a US delegation led by Nancy Pelosi this week reaffirmed. But it could not, by itself, heal Northern Ireland’s divisions. Instead, it offered a way to manage them. That a young life has been cut short should remind politicians on all sides that the agreement cannot be taken for granted, and that if the urgent task is to safeguard it, the ultimate task must be to move beyond it."
The Times [£] in a leader: "There is still an urgent need to revive devolved government. Intransigence on all sides must not be indulged. The Northern Ireland secretary has still a job to do, though few seem to remain long enough in post for anyone to remember their names, let alone their engagement. The callous killing of a young journalist should jolt London, Dublin and Belfast out of dangerous complacency."
RSF on its latest world press freedom report: "The 2019 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) shows how hatred of journalists has degenerated into violence, contributing to an increase in fear. The number of countries regarded as safe, where journalists can work in complete security, continues to decline, while authoritarian regimes continue to tighten their grip on the media. The RSF Index, which evaluates the state of journalism in 180 countries and territories every year, shows that an intense climate of fear has been triggered — one that is prejudicial to a safe reporting environment. The hostility towards journalists expressed by political leaders in many countries has incited increasingly serious and frequent acts of violence that have fuelled an unprecedented level of fear and danger for journalists."
The Times [£] in a leader: "The 2019 World Press Freedom Index, compiled by the campaigning organisation Reporters Without Borders, evaluates the state of journalism in 180 countries. Britain has risen seven places from last year but is still too low. It reflects how the international climate for journalists has become less free and more threatening. At 33rd place, Britain ranks lower than Ghana and South Africa. It is one of the least free journalistic jurisdictions in Europe. Among the reasons is a draconian threat to the financial position of newspapers that decline to join a state-backed press regulator. Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act of 2013 would require these newspapers to pay both sides’ legal costs in cases of privacy or defamation, even where their reporting is vindicated. Though ministers have undertaken to repeal the relevant section, it remains on the statute book. Its corrosive effect is to deter honest reporters from publishing their findings for fear of arbitrary and punitive financial penalties.This is not the only constraint on press freedom but it is a peculiarly iniquitous one. While born of a moment of political hostility to the press, its insidious effects still persist."
Roger Mosey in the Sunday Times Magazine [£]: "This is a BBC that has been woefully inadequate in creating space on its main television channel for the biggest story faced by the UK in generations: our relationship with the European Union. There is a tradition on BBC1 of landmark current-affairs specials for the significant national moments — from The Question of Ulster in the 1970s to the 9/11 and Iraq War programmes of the 2000s. But the crisis manifested in the past three years over Brexit has had a feeble response in peak time, aside from the occasional stream of breaking news. In a further perplexing move, the BBC News at Ten was cut back in length at the beginning of March when anyone could have spotted that it might be quite a decisive period in politics."
Donald Trump @realDonaldTrump on Twitter: "I wonder if the New York Times will apologize to me a second time, as they did after the 2016 Election. But this one will have to be a far bigger & better apology. On this one they will have to get down on their knees & beg for forgiveness-they are truly the Enemy of the People!"
UKIP MEP candidate Carl Benjamin after the press asked him about his post that he “wouldn’t even rape” Labour MP Jess Phillips, as reported by ITV.com: “I’m not answering your questions, I’m not apologising for anything, you dirty, dirty smear merchants.”
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