Media Quotes of the Week: How print still beats the web to now nasty Rob Titchener abuses hacks

Jack Shafer on Politico: "Print—particularly the newspaper—is an amazingly sophisticated technology for showing you what’s important, and showing you a lot of it. The newspaper has refined its user interface for more than two centuries. Incorporated into your daily newspaper's architecture are the findings from field research conducted in thousands of newspapers over hundreds of millions of editions. Newspaper designers have created a universal grammar of headline size, typeface, place, letter spacing, white space, sections, photography, and illustration that gives readers subtle clues on what and how to read to satisfy their news needs. Web pages can't convey this metadata because there's not enough room on the screen to display it all."

Allison Pearson in the Telegraph: "It is scarcely credible at the start of the 21st century that the number of national newspaper columnists who went to Westminster, Eton or other private schools outnumber those of us who went to a comprehensive. How is it possible that the kind of school that serves 93 per cent of the population should be so pitifully under-represented among the ranks of those who pontificate on state education about which, to be perfectly fair, they know absolutely bugger all?"

Harold Evans‏ @sirharryevans on Twitter: "For sheer disgusting hyena journalism see -or rather don't- NY Post splash on Clinton sickness."

Donald Trump at a rally in New Hampshire, as reported by the Huffington Post: “I have really good news for you. I just heard that the press is stuck on their airplane. They can’t get here. I love it...They called us and said, ‘Could you wait? I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ Let’s get going, right? Let’s get going, New Hampshire.”

Trinity Mirror in a statement: "Trinity Mirror has confirmed that it will be handing back four of the eight regional Metro franchises it operates to DMGT. The Scotland, Cardiff, Bristol, and East Midlands Metro franchises will be handed back with effect from 1st January 2017 but (it is understood) are likely to be continued to be published by DMGT. Trinity Mirror will continue to operate its other Metro franchises in Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Birmingham. Trinity Mirror has run the regional Metro franchises since each was launched over the last 15 years. However, as circulation and advertising revenue has declined, the profitability and sustainability of each franchise for the company has been reviewed."

Metro in a statement: "From 1 October 2016, Metro is set to increase its national print circulation by 10%, increasing the paper's daily print run to 1.477 million – its largest ever. Most extra copies of the newspaper will be distributed in the London area, upping the number available each weekday morning to almost 900,000 in the capital. Metro will be expanding the edition's existing presence on the bus network, with the paper available to even more commuters in London and the South East."

David Walsh in the Sunday Times [£]: "It has always been clear that those with most to hide are often quickest to sue. Putting it bluntly, they use their lawyers to discourage inquiry. This response is now exacerbated by changes in the way we receive our news and the difficulties that have arisen from our industry’s original sin: free content. [David] Simon’s point is undeniable. Proper journalism depends upon an online revenue stream. The irony is that journalism has never been as vital to a country’s overall health as it is now. A current example: there is a sporting body out there, funded by you and I, the taxpayer, who seem almost eager to pass on every difficult question to their lawyers. They employ PR staff but you wouldn’t know this if you emailed a serious question. Instead the lawyers write long letters for large fees. What lawyers love, though, is further correspondence. Most newspapers cannot afford to engage in lengthy legal actions and, of course, this is something the unscrupulous exploit."

Jeff Jarvis in an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg after Facebook took down the famous Vietnam war picture of a girl victim of napalm: "Dear Mark Zuckerberg, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Facebook needs an editor — to stop Facebook from editing. It needs someone to save Facebook from itself by bringing principles to the discussion of rules. There is actually nothing new in this latest episode: Facebook sends another takedown notice over a picture with nudity. What is new is that Facebook wants to take down an iconic photo of great journalistic meaning and historic importance and that Facebook did this to a leading editor, Espen Egil Hansen, editor-in-chief of Aftenposten, who answered forcefully: 'The media have a responsibility to consider publication in every single case. This may be a heavy responsibility. Each editor must weigh the pros and cons. This right and duty, which all editors in the world have, should not be undermined by algorithms encoded in your office in California…. Editors cannot live with you, Mark, as a master editor'."

Peter Preston in The Observer: "Facebook, though now the biggest carrier of digital news on Planet Earth, says it isn’t an editor or publisher, merely a humble platform. But now watch it change algorithms like any publisher in a jam. Watch it take editorial decisions, switching idiocy for sense. And watch it drain advertising revenue pretty voraciously from the news sites it carries. Dear Mark is part of our news world now. And he needs to be fully, intelligently engaged in it."

Dylan Jones in The New European: "Van Morrison tends to think that most journalists are dumber than cardboard. As one said, he takes to interviews like a duck to tarmac."

Daily Mail@DailyMailUK on Twitter: "Police create crime map that looks like a giant pink penis"

Ben Fenton ‏@benfenton on Twitter: "Slow news day?"

Daily Mail U.K. ‏@DailyMail on Twitter @benfenton: "yes".

Rob Titchener in The Archers reviews the papers: "Here's another one. 'Serial Abuser Posed as Mr. Nice Guy'. My life reduced to a salacious headline. How can they live with themselves inventing this nonsense. These hacks have no idea."

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Media Quotes of the Week: From Save Our Apostrophes Now! to Sun Hacks Off Hugh

The Grey Cardigan on The Spin Alley calls for the defence of the apostrophe: "Luckily, the good people of Cambridge are fighting back and someone is roaming the streets with a black marker pen adding the missing apostrophe to aberrant street signs. We should all do the same. So be vigilant. If your local council starts to go down this route, object, kick up a fuss, and if all else fails, get the black marker pen out."

Ampp3d reports: "Ampp3d has scoured data from the Ordnance Survey to identify the 16,659 streets under threat from official guidelines telling local authorities to ditch street names containing apostrophes....an investigation by Ampp3d reveals the scale of the threat to Britain’s streets. More than 1 in 50 are at risk of being wiped off the map, including Nob’s Crook in Hampshire, Pickle’s Way in Kent, Dick o’ th’ Banks Close in Dorset and Broad o’ th’ Lane in Wigan."

Johnston Press boss ashley highfield ‏@ashleyhi on the FA Cup on Twitter: "Wins for JP Cities Wigan, Sheffield, and Sunderland. And where 2 JP towns were playing each other - Blackpool and Doncaster - a draw!"

Sunday Times' chief sports writer David Walsh, giving the Hugh Cudlipp lecture: “When I was the bad guy I was the cynic, I was the guy who hated sport, I was the guy who hated cycling. And I used to say to people  I’m the only one here who’s not cynical. I’m actually a romantic. I believe that one day we can have a Tour de France that we believe in, where the winner is clean and is actually the best athlete, not the most doped-up cheat."

The Media Blog ‏@TheMediaTweets on Twitter: "One of the immutable laws of Twitter: When a football commentator or pundit is trending it is never because viewers are loving their stuff."

The NUJ Welsh executive council in a statement: "The NUJ Wales executive council would like to extend its support and solidarity to colleagues working for Newsquest and currently balloting for action in Bradford, York and Darlington. The dispute is in response to the threat of compulsory redundancies and the impact on quality and workloads after the proposed transfer of subbing work to Newport, Wales. Our union campaigns to protect local media jobs and local journalism. We believe that to move work away from the communities can only harm the titles and local democracy. The local press plays a crucial role in holding politicians or local councils to account. Local newspapers should be produced locally. The NUJ in Wales supports the calls for Newsquest to stop the threats to force journalists out of their jobs."

Patrick Wintour ‏@patrickwintour on Twitter: "Richard Caseby ex Sun managing editor is the new DWP Comms boss. I fear I may be slipping back a little in queue to interview IDS."

Alison Phillips in the Daily Mirror: "Seems Hugh Grant has taken to collecting love children the way young boys collect football cards. Except without the same level of commitment. Or maturity."

Guido Fawkes asks: "Why Did Hugh Grant Lobby Politicians to Gag The Press?

Quotes of the Week: Prince Harry shoots at British press to why not charge readers to comment?

Prince Harry in an ITV News interview slams the British press: “All it does is upset me and anger me that people can get away with writing the stuff they do. My father (Prince Charles) always says don't read it, everyone says don't read it, because it's always rubbish. I'm surprised how many in the UK actually read it.”

Northern Echo editor Peter Barron: "It would have been nice if Prince Harry had resisted getting out his huge tar brush to blacken the entire British press and acknowledged that there are good and bad in every profession - including the armed forces. He might also have acknowledged that on more than one occasion, the British press has been asked in its entirety to keep his deployment to Afghanistan secret - and remained water-tight. Respect has to work both ways."

Leveson lead counsel Robert Jay, speaking at the Singapore Acadmy of Law, as reported by the Guardian:  "My impression is that the press in the UK could well qualify as the most unruly and irreverent in the world, and I have travelled widely; it is fearless, and it speaks its mind. To be described as 'unruly and irreverent' would be regarded by most editors and journalists as a badge of honour, not of aspersion. Many would argue that these qualities make the press in the UK the best in the world, because the dividing line between fearlessness in holding power to account and unruliness in disparaging the rights of private individuals is almost impossible to draw."

David Walsh on Lance Armstrong in the Sunday Times [£]: "I do not expect or want an apology but I would like a third meeting because I have got a lot of questions. Oprah started something three nights ago, a very modest first step on the road to the truth in Armstrong’s story. If he commits himself to the journey, he will be surprised how far he can go."

A sign in Manly Library, Sydney, as quoted by The Australian: "All non-fiction Lance Armstrong titles, including Lance Armstrong: Images of a Champion, The Lance Armstrong Performance Program and Lance Armstrong: World's Greatest Champion, will soon be moved to the fiction section.'' 

Evgeny Lebedev on the Independent in the Sunday Times [£]: “We’ve done a lot of research and worked out that the future of the paper is very upmarket.”

EU report suggests new ways to police the press, as reported by Press Gazette: "Media councils should have real enforcement powers, such as the imposition of fines, orders for printed or broadcast apologies, or removal of journalistic status."

Local World chairman David Montgomery, interviewed in InPublishing about the future for local journalism: “It’s about getting people to organise themselves sufficiently to manage the amount of content a local publisher exploits. Not a two fold increase but a 20-fold increase in the amount of content a local publisher exploits.” 

Tyler Brûlé in the Financial Times: "What about charging people to comment? It used to cost the price of a stamp to send a letter to the editor. I’m quite sure the media landscape would be a tidier, more polite place if everyone was charged a first-class postal fee before firing off poorly researched, occasionally rude remarks."

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