Media Quotes of the Week: From UK criticised by press freedom group over detention of Assange to US Capitol riot accused say they were journalists

Reporters Without Borders in its World Press Freedom Index 2021 Report: "Europe continues to be the most favourable continent for press freedom but violence against journalists has increased, and the mechanisms the European Union established to protect fundamental freedoms have yet to loosen Viktor Orbán’s grip on Hungary’s media or halt the draconian measures being taken in other central European countries...There was a different kind of setback for journalism in the United Kingdom (up 2 at 33rd), where a judge based her decision not to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States on the potential threats to his mental health rather than the need to protect public interest journalism and free speech."

Jim Bilton on InPublishing on the best film and TV shows about the media business, according to a poll of media insiders: "All the President’s Men (1976) received the most votes by far. It clearly remains the definitive account of what investigative journalism is all about. In the current world of fake news, the misuse of political power and the ability of politicians to manipulate and deceive, the need for independent journalism and the reality of there still being “facts” to find out there, rings true with so many working now in the media business, both editorial and commercial. It also harks back to a “golden age” when management seemed to take big bets and committed real resource to major editorial missions. And of course, every male journalist of a certain age still harbours the secret longing to be."

• Drop the Dead Donkey was voted best TV show

The Times [£] reports: "Boris Johnson has scrapped plans for televised White House-style briefings amid concerns about the 'political risk' involved despite spending £2.6 million on a new room to host them. The Times has been told that the briefings have been axed because they risk giving 'oxygen' to difficult stories for ministers."

HuffPost UK editor-in-chief Jess Brammar on Twitter: "Ok, deep breath. My time at HuffPost UK is coming to an end. As part of cuts BuzzFeed announced weeks after buying us in February, the UK news desk is being closed down and many of our team are being made redundant - including the entire brilliant, trailblazing news team. My role is going along with about half the team. I was offered a new reduced editor role, running a HuffPost UK without a newsdesk, as part of BuzzFeed’s plan to 'fast track its path to profitability'. But news is at the heart of what HuffPost was for me. So I am bowing out."

James Ball in the New Statesman on the cuts at BuzzFeed and HuffPost: "Journalists have proven they can create online newsrooms that generate social value and can reach huge audiences. Other outlets have proven there are multiple ways to raise money off that. And the talent is there. What’s missing is the right owner: someone who wants to make decent, but not venture capital-scale profits and who can be more responsive than distant US corporate overlords. The latest news for digital media might be grim. But that shouldn’t stop people trying."

Former Northern Echo editor Peter Barron on the trials and tribulations of dealing with local safe cracker, businessman and one time Darlington F.C. chairman George Reynolds, who has died: "IN one call to me, George declared: 'If you’re going to write headlines about me, I’ll write headlines about you.' The next day, he erected a huge billboard outside the stadium, and posted weekly 'headlines' in enormous letters. They included SACK BARRON, BARRON IS A LIAR (complete with a picture of Pinnochio), and his carefully considered coup de grace, BARRON IS GAY."

Chris Blackhurst on Press Gazette on the newsroom under threat after Covid and the growth of working from home: "The newsroom is much more than covering the occurrence of a terrorist outrage or disaster or some political storm. It’s about a buzz, an intangible chemistry, an intoxicating smell, of people, young and old, sparking off each other, sharing ideas and leads, bits of information and yes, having a gossip and a laugh."

Séamus Dooley, NUJ assistant general secretary in a statement on the second anniversary of the killing of journalist Lyra McKee in Derry: "We hope that the second anniversary will prompt witnesses to come forward with new information. I know that in the immediate aftermath of the killing there was a climate of fear and intimidation in Derry, but it is vital that those responsible for the killing of a brave, talented and courageous journalist are brought to justice...the greatest tribute to Lyra would be the arrest and prosecution of all those responsible for her killing. That would send a clear signal to the community that violence, harassment and intimidation have no place in Northern Ireland and will not be tolerated.”

Committee to Protect Journalists Asia program coordinator Steven Butler in a statement: “Forcing a prominent pro-democracy media entrepreneur like Jimmy Lai to spend more than a year in prison and hitting him with additional national security charges that could jail him for life can only be seen as an act of retaliation against an outspoken critic. The Chinese government, which now tightly controls Hong Kong, should reverse course immediately to preserve the tattered remains of the territory’s tradition of press freedom.”

Richard Sambrook on Twitter: "We now have women running Reuters News, BBC News, BBC Content, ITN, ITV, Editing The Guardian, Sunday Times, Sun, Mirror and more. And about time too."

AP reports: "The Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol in January created a trove of self-incriminating evidence, thoroughly documenting their actions and words in videos and social media posts. Now some of the camera-toting people in the crowd are claiming they were only there to record history as journalists, not to join a deadly insurrection. It’s unlikely that any of the self-proclaimed journalists can mount a viable defense on the First Amendment’s free speech grounds, experts say. They face long odds if video captured them acting more like rioters than impartial observers. But as the internet has broadened and blurred the definition of a journalist, some appear intent on trying."

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Media Quotes of the Week: Royal rebuffs: Prince Philip and the press 'reptiles' to praise for FT and Sunday Times for the Cameron-Greensill story

In 2006 Press Gazette ran some excerpts from 'Duke of Hazard, The Wit and Wisdom of Prince Philip', by Phil Dampier and Ashley Walton, which included these three tales of his dealings with the press:

In Bangladesh, the Queen and the Duke were standing in the garden of a government building to meet guests waiting in line for a cocktail party. Ashley Walton, then royal correspondent of the Daily Express, was with other members of the travelling “Rat Pack” of reporters at the end of the line. Philip, not realising he could be overheard, turned to the Queen and grimaced: "Here come the bloody reptiles! ”

At a press reception in Windsor Castle to mark the Golden Jubilee: " 'Who are you?' the Duke demanded of Simon Kelner. 'I’m the editor-in-chief of The Independent, sir.' 'What are you doing here?' asked the Duke.'You invited me.' 'Well, you didn’t have to come!' ”

Next victim was Martin Townsend, editor of the Sunday Express: “'Ah the Sunday Express,' said Philip. 'I was very fond of Arthur Christiansen.' 'Yes, there’s been a long line of distinguished editors,' replied Townsend. 'I didn’t say that!' barked Philip, walking away."

Chris Blackhurst on Twitter: "At a media reception at Buckingham Palace, a journalist introduced himself to Prince Philip: 'Hello sir, I’m so and so from the East Anglia Daily Press, do you read us when you’re in Sandringham?' Philip looked him up and down, paused, then said 'certainly not' and walked off."

Polly Toynbee in the Guardian: "Guardian investigations regularly reveal royal embarrassments, so it’s not surprising its journalists are not in favour.When the Queen invited a great gathering of journalists to a golden jubilee reception in Windsor Castle, she and Prince Philip entered the hall looking as if they were sucking lemons. Prince Philip approached the group I was with and asked where I was from. 'The Guardian,' I said, and asked: 'Do you ever read it?' 'No fear!' he said, and spun on his heel."

Giles Coren in The Times [£]: on his Times Radio show being dropped to make way for the coverage of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh: "As the announcement from the Palace came over Sky News and Cathy Newman’s team roared into action, while super-presenter Stig Abell leapt on to his Harley Davidson out in rural wherever-he-lives and powered towards London Bridge to head up the huge emergency media response the occasion required, I was already shuffling towards the lifts and reflecting, not for the first time, on how there are two kinds of journalist in this world: the ones who see a massive news story as an opportunity to be at the centre of things, grappling with the first draft of history; and the ones who see it as an opportunity to get away with doing nothing at all."

David Yelland on Twitter: "If I'd have been editing The Sun in Brexit war the paper would have backed Remain purely because of peace in the island of Ireland. The English Brexit editor class - including Boris - either didn't care or didn't listen. This is a disgrace."

Patricia Devlin on Index on Censorship: "Twenty years ago, Sunday World journalist Martin O’Hagan was assassinated by members of the violent Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF). The killing gang – who have never been convicted – later released a statement saying the reporter had been murdered for 'crimes against the loyalist people'. Two decades on the same type of language is not only bedecking lampposts across Northern Ireland in the form of anti-Irish Sea Border placards, but is also being used by those with influence in unionism and loyalism. It is this type of hard rhetoric that has fed into the hostility to media workers here, who have been murdered and attacked as they go about their jobs. Northern Ireland has paid a very high price for its peace; but what price must it pay to protect press freedom?"

Timothy Garton Ash in the Guardian on the media in Poland: "The ruling Law and Justice party has launched a systematic attack on independent media. The methods are straight out of Viktor Orbán’s playbook in Hungary. Public sector advertising and subscriptions are withdrawn from independent media. All sorts of regulatory chicanery is used against them. Public money is pumped into state television and radio. A “pandemic tax” is proposed on media advertising revenue. A projected law on the “repolonisation” of media would target foreign owners of the biggest independent outlets. A state-owned petrol company, PKN Orlen, whose boss is a Law and Justice party crony, buys both a major press distributor, Ruch, and the largest network of regional newspapers, Polska Press. The most critical papers are bombarded with lawsuits."

Political correspondent Chris Mason on BBC News at Ten  on the Cameron-Greensill affair:  “There's another point worth making too: journalism matters.The work of the Financial Times and the Sunday Times, ferreting out awkward truths, is what has prompted this.”

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Quotes of the Week: Independent exposes 'the other hacking scandal,' does it kill Leveson?

The Independent reveals the other hacking scandal: "Some of Britain’s most respected industries routinely employ criminals to hack, blag and steal personal information on business rivals and members of the public, according to a secret report leaked to The Independent. The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) knew six years ago that law firms, telecoms giants and insurance were hiring private investigators to break the law and further their commercial interests."

The Times [£] in a leader:  "SOCA’s report suggests criminal activity by people who have not yet been brought to justice. Perhaps the Metropolitan Police could now redirect some of the 91 officers investigating newspaper hacking towards these other hackers. How busy can they all be?"

Christopher Meyer ‏@SirSocks on Twitter: "So, legal profession did more phonehacking than journos. That kills Leveson. as this was always about crime, not press regulation."

The Independent further reveals: "Lord Justice Leveson wrote to MPs to say he believed the Soca report fell outside his terms of reference for the hearings, which were to 'inquire into the culture, practices and ethics of the press'. However, he also mysteriously claimed his inquiry was 'specifically asked not to circulate it without further discussion'."

Simon Jenkins on public inquiries in the Guardian: "David Cameron, under attack for his links to News Corporation, sought a judge known to be eager for higher office and chose Lord Justice Leveson to investigate press ethics. From the resulting shambles Cameron escaped scot free."

Daily Mail in a leader: "Hacked Off director Brian Cathcart has taken a sabbatical from his reputed £80,000-a-year university teaching job, while he heads a campaign for a new law to shackle Britain’s free Press. Plainly, it would be inappropriate for Professor Cathcart to continue to draw a taxpayer-funded salary from Kingston University, while engaging in such a hugely contentious political lobbying campaign."

The Independent's Chris Blackhurst on his new role, in his editor's letter: "My new, elevated title of Group Content Director, I accept, has an Orwellian 1984 or John Birt’s BBC ring to it. But we could not find a better name that summarises our changed, multi-platform organisation and our ability to cope with the insatiable demands of the internet, print titles and television."

Daily Mail in a leader on the bid to prevent the naming of  CQC executives on the grounds they were entitled to anonymity under the Data Protection Act: "It was only after newspapers and the Information Commissioner challenged this false claim that the CQC was made to see sense...Alarmingly, however, the row over data protection laws is typical of how, in the post-Leveson world, it is becoming ever harder for the Press to expose and scrutinise State wrongdoing."

Quentin Letts in the Mail on being told off by Culture Secretary Maria Millers's special adviser: "Her high cheeks blushed with displeasure as she scolded me yesterday, told me that I must show more ‘chivalry’ to her employer."

Piers Morgan ‏@piersmorgan on Twitter: "Interesting that the Guardian so vigorously supports #Snowden criminal hacking. Same paper that wants journalists jailed for it in UK."

Peter Preston in The Observer on the possibility of Lord Grade brokering a deal on press regulation: "Involving Grade is one, potentially smart way of getting things moving before the long grass chokes all hope of progress. Somebody has to be in charge. Neither the government nor parliament as a whole is because, very simply, there's not a hope in hell of regional papers (or the FT, it seems) rubber-stamping an untried arbitration process only hungry lawyers could love."

City AM's Marion Dakers reveals: "The Press Standards Board of Finance, which charges newspapers the levy used to fund the PCC, applied to trade mark 'Independent Press Standards Organisation' at the end of last month."

Grey Cardigan on The Spin Alley: "Venture out into the digital world and you’ll find plenty of sites happy to publish your work, but you won’t find many who want to pay for it. Only this week I had a call from a website owner asking me to contribute to his ‘project’. When I asked how much, he giggled nervously and suggested that I might want to do it for free to get the ‘exposure’. It would look good on my CV, he thought. Look good on what CV? I’ve been at this game for 35 years. I don’t need ‘exposure’ and I don’t have a CV. I’ve never needed one, my reputation going before me." 

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The Press Standards Board of Finance, which charges newspapers the levy used to fund the PCC, applied to trade mark “Independent Press Standards Organisation” at the end of last month. - See more at: http://www.cityam.com/article/new-name-frame-press-watchdog#sthash.x0JLDyPL.dpuf

The Press Standards Board of Finance, which charges newspapers the levy used to fund the PCC, applied to trade mark “Independent Press Standards Organisation” at the end of last month. - See more at: http://www.cityam.com/article/new-name-frame-press-watchdog#sthash.x0JLDyPL.dpuf

The Press Standards Board of Finance, which charges newspapers the levy used to fund the PCC, applied to trade mark “Independent Press Standards Organisation” at the end of last month. - See more at: http://www.cityam.com/article/new-name-frame-press-watchdog#sthash.TToUbaVp.dpuf

The Press Standards Board of Finance, which charges newspapers the levy used to fund the PCC, applied to trade mark “Independent Press Standards Organisation” at the end of last month. - See more at: http://www.cityam.com/article/new-name-frame-press-watchdog#sthash.TToUbaVp.dpuf

The Press Standards Board of Finance, which charges newspapers the levy used to fund the PCC, applied to trade mark “Independent Press Standards Organisation” at the end of last month. - See more at: http://www.cityam.com/article/new-name-frame-press-watchdog#sthash.LMbA3Twy.dpuf

The Press Standards Board of Finance, which charges newspapers the levy used to fund the PCC, applied to trade mark “Independent Press Standards Organisation” at the end of last month. - See more at: http://www.cityam.com/article/new-name-frame-press-watchdog#sthash.LMbA3Twy.dpuf

Independent plans new Saturday magazine Radar

The Independent is to launch a new arts, books, listings and culture magazine called Radar from Saturday week, editor Chris Blackhurst (top) reveals in the paper today.

Radar is part of a revamp of the paper ahead of a cover price rise to £1:20 next Monday.

Blackhurst writes: "From its name you can guess that Radar's aim is to give you advance notice of everything that's worth knowing in that space. It combines the strengths of the existing Arts & Books section – most of which will move from next week from its current Friday slot – and our old listings supplements."

He also says that new writers joining the Independent will include "the brilliant, sassy, funny" Grace Dent.

Independent editor: 'My fears about Leveson'

Chris Blackhurst, editor of the Independent, says he is worried that MPs will jump on any recommendations from the Leveson Inquiry that suggests regulation of the press should have a statutory element.

Speaking at a City University debate on the "Lessons of Leveson" in London, Blackhurst suggested the inquiry was "deeply flawed" and a "political response to political embarrassment".

He said Leveson had not looked into the "dark arts" of PR and lobbying and it was "very strange" to have a public inquiry in parallel to a criminal investigation.

Blackhurst described the Sunday Times "cash for access" revelations about the Conservative Party as "a fantastic story" and said he hoped Lord Justice Leveson had read it. He claimed if journalists could not use subterfuge then the Sunday Times' story, the Telegraph's MPs' expenses scoop and the Independent's Bell Pottinger lobbying investigations could not happen.

He warned should Leveson came up with recommendations for some statutory controls to underpin regulation of the press: "If it goes anywhere near Parliament the MPs who were done over by the Telegraph on expenses could have their say. We could be in for a very torrid time."

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said she supported "statutory underpinning" of regulation of the press and said it worked in Ireland.

Professor Ivor Gaber, director of political journalism at City, claimed: "Self-regulation with teeth needs something to back-up the teeth. We can't have decent regulation without a statutory framework."

Brian Cathcart, of Kingston University, said "We have to acknowledge we've been in a very bad situation. It was like Berlusconi without the prostitutes." He added that Lord Justice Leveson had repeatedly said he did not want to interfere with the freedom of the press.

• Blackhurst was also aggrieved by what he said had been a threat by Manchester United to ban the Independent from access after the club was upset by a story. Asked how the bust-up had ended, Blackhurst said: "We published a grovelling apology because we wanted to keep the relationship with Man United."
• Former News of the World journalist Neville Thurlbeck, also speaking at the debate, claimed it was common for Fleet Street photographers in the 1970s and 1980s to listen in to phone calls by using scanners.
  
• Pic: Jon Slattery
  

Simply Red: New bold masthead for Independent but Kelner's Viewspaper is dumped in revamp

The Independent has unveiled a dramatic, new bold red masthead (top). Yesterday's was red but not so bold (middle); and the original (bottom) was a classic looking black. The eagle has survived.

Other changes at the Independent, which has just celebrated its 25th birthday, are a new body typeface and headline fonts and the dumping of former editor-in-chief Simon Kelner's concept of The Viewspaper, the separate comment and features section that was in the middle of the paper.

New editor Chris Blackhurst says: "We have decided to use the occasion of the paper's 25th birthday for a makeover. The masthead is bolder – still 'The Independent', complete with eagle, but now more striking and harder to miss on the news stands.

"The body typeface and headline fonts we use have been made more readable. The other, main alteration is that The Viewspaper has gone. We thought long and hard about this. Viewspaper was created to draw attention to the unrivalled quality of The Independent's commentators.

"We continue to take pride in this quality. But since taking over three months ago, I've become aware that The Viewspaper could be something of a ghetto, to be taken out and read later – but in truth, put on one side and, during a busy day, all too often forgotten."

"What I want is a faster, more accessible and urgent paper, one that is easily navigated and that puts you in no doubt what The Independent stands for and what its brilliant, provocative columnists and writers are thinking. So today, The Viewspaper disappears, with the paper's editorial all comprised in a bigger, single-section paper."

Blackhurst says of the revamp: "The result, I hope, is a modern, confident, dynamic, sharper paper – one that remains exactly true to its original values but is now a friendlier, less daunting read."