Media Quotes of the Week: From lay off Nicholas Witchell to Fleet Street's response to climate emergency could leave it doomed to extinction

Kay Burley @KayBurley on Twitter: "For those who think they can do a better job than the supreme professional #nickwitchell, I’d like to see you try. Doctors bury their mistakes, lawyers jail theirs and TV journalists broadcast theirs. Get off his case and get on with your day."

Jeremy Corbyn in a letter to the president of the Board of Jewish Deputies, reported by the Jewish Chronicle, takes aim at The Times and columnist Daniel Finkelstein: "I note that the Hobson story was written by a Conservative party peer in a newspaper whose editorial policy, and owner, have long been hostile to Labour."

Mark Kleinman on Sky News: "A consortium of hedge funds which seized control of Johnston Press last year is plotting a quickfire strategic review that could trigger the sale of prized newspaper assets such as the i and The Scotsman. Sky News has learnt that the owners of JPIMedia, the company's new name, are sounding out advisers about launching an auction of parts or all of the business, which publishes hundreds of regional titles.City insiders said this weekend that the likeliest outcome was the sale of the i in one transaction, and the rest of the group in another. The likely valuations of the regional titles, which include the Yorkshire Post, Arbroath Herald and Belfast Newsletter, is unclear but is expected to reflect the dwindling financial prospects of news outlets hurt by the shift towards online, often free, rivals."

From The Times [£] obit on former Mirror journalist John Knight: "Knight belonged to Fleet Street’s finest tradition of bons vivants. Once he disappeared for lunch for three days. Upon his return he was asked where he had been. 'On the piss,' he said. 'Oh, thank goodness,' replied his editor. 'We were worried in case you were ill'.”

Reuters editor-in-chief Stephen J Adler in a statement: “We are enormously pleased that Myanmar has released our courageous reporters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. Since their arrests 511 days ago, they have become symbols of the importance of press freedom around the world. We welcome their return.”

Sean O'Neill @TimesONeill on Twitter: "Two journalists [Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney]  were arrested by armed police under the Official Secrets Act in Northern Ireland last year after exposing police collusion in the Loughinisland murders. But Downing Street says Gavin Williamson’s national security breach is a 'closed matter'."

Prisoners of Conscience chief executive Gary Allison: “Until 2014, we received a handful of application each year for emergency hardship grants for journalists. However, given the increasingly world-wide threats to freedom of speech and the often dangerous circumstances within which journalists report, the numbers applying for these grants are rising rapidly. We know there are many more people that need support, but due to the fact human rights defenders are so often driven underground, it’s impossible for us to calculate the exact scale of the problem. We want people to help us help others. Spread the word among colleagues that grants are available, and if you're able to, please donate. Because if journalists are not supported, their voices die. And in some cases, so do they.”

Simon Jack on BBC News: "The publishers of the Sun and now-defunct News of the World, along with the publishers of the Mirror Group newspapers, could face a total bill for phone hacking of up to £1bn, says the group representing the victims. Settlements to victims, plus legal costs, already total nearly £500m. There are hundreds more claims already under way and many thousands more victims who could potentially claim."

Gavin Esler on the Huffington Post: “Balance in politics has been easy in Britain because we have all fallen into the 20th century idea if you have a Tory on you get a Labour Party person. If you have the left you have the right. That’s not what politics is like anymore. Brexit is not only not just about left and right. Brexit is about expertise. You cannot and should not have someone who really knows what they are talking about balanced by someone who is essentially the village idiot.”

Alan Rusbridger @arusbridger on Twitter: "This is surely a diary paragraph rather than a front page splash? If this is the British press’s best response to climate emergency then Fleet Street is doomed to extinction (hopefully not taking the rest of us with them)."

 [£] = paywall