Media Quotes of the Week: 'Our job is not to be liked' - journalists hit back at Covid-19 critics as survey reveals freelances hit hardest by pandemic

Beth Rigby, on BBC Radio 4's Media Show on criticism of journalists covering Covid-19 being too aggressive towards the Government: "Our job is not to be liked. Our job is to ask difficult questions. Sometimes that chimes with some people and some people really dislike it... What we try and do as journalists is just ask the best question at the moment to get the best answer and try and affect positive change."

Piers Morgan on Twitter: "Reminder to trolls abusing journalists for doing our jobs: we’re not supposed to be nice, or popular, or sycophantic - we’re supposed to be challenging, dogged & generally a massive pain in the arse to all forms of authority. Otherwise we’re not working properly on your behalf."

Mark Austin on Twitter: "For all those abusing journalists for criticising and challenging the government: if you had journalists allowed to expose failings, report the truth and challenge authority in China, rather than being imprisoned, maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place...The point is if you want a free media subject to the law of the land and regulation, then you take it warts and all . Questions you like or don’t like, headlines you like or don’t like , journalists you like or don’t like, stuff you agree with , stuff you don’t. That’s it really."

Tom Newton Dunn on Twitter: "God I’m bored with cranks banging on about ‘MSM’. There was no ‘MSM’ verdict on the PM’s address. Seldom is. Some outlets approved, some didn’t. We all try to reflect the views of our varied audiences. That’s capitalism. (Point of fact, trust in the media is up during the crisis)."

James Mates on Twitter: "This is a time of quite unprecedented challenge to journalism and a free press. In the US they’re portrayed as ‘enemies of the people’. Literally. Independent media has largely gone in Poland, gone in Hungary. A free press has rarely needed more defending."

Alastair Campbell on Tortoise: "There is no doubt that several of the newspapers now are making little attempt any more to separate news from comment, fact from opinion. It is a hugely important part of the populists’ armoury, backed by the exploitation of overtly opinionated radio presenters and social media armies. And though newspapers have always been, to greater or lesser degrees, subject to the political influence of owners, that has grown even since my time in newspapers."

Alastair Campbell also on Tortoise: "Asking a minister a question about how they feel – 'Are you worried that?' – or asking them to speculate – 'Do you think it will get better or worse?' – or giving them a multiple choice – 'And finally, minister, if I may…' — are, in general, wasted questions. The other situation that puts the briefer under legitimate pressure is one where the media work together. I knew from my time as a reporter that sometimes working as a pack was the only way to elicit information that, for whatever reason, the government did not want to give."

An International Federation of Journalists survey claims: "Women journalists are suffering greater stress and anxiety than their male counterparts as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. While women journalists’ working conditions tend to be less affected by the COVID-19 outbreak than those of men, two-thirds of women have suffered higher stress and anxiety as a result of the crisis compared to just half of men."

NUJ Northern and Midlands senior organiser Chris Morley in a statement on Reach's trading update: "As the country’s biggest single commercial employer of journalists, we welcome the update from Reach plc that shows the company has a sound financial footing from which to anchor itself from the turbulence to the economy that the Covid-19 crisis has created...However, we note that the group has gathered a strong cash reserve of £33 million while thousands of staff have been told to make big financial and personal sacrifices through pay cuts and furloughing where significant government assistance is coming in."

HoldTheFrontPage reports: "More than 10 editorial roles are under threat after an independent publisher announced plans to make dozens of staff redundant due to the coronavirus crisis. The Midland News Association, publisher of the Express & Star, Wolverhampton, has confirmed it is looking at potential redundancies due to the impact of the pandemic on the business. In a statement, the company said the outbreak had 'severely affected advertising revenue and forecasts suggest the difficult trading conditions will continue throughout 2020'.″

Freddy Mayhew on Press Gazette: "Buzzfeed is closing its dedicated UK and Australian news operations, resulting in staff being furloughed and stood down. The decision to stop covering local news in the two countries has been made 'both for economic and strategic reasons', a spokesperson said. Buzzfeed continues to publish news in the US and said it plans to retain some UK staff to cover global news for its American audience in areas such as social news, celebrity and investigations."

Alan Rusbridger on Medium's OneZero why he is joining the Facebook Oversight Board: "Facebook is an entity that defies description. It is a friend of the otherwise voiceless — but also an enabler of darkness. It brings harmony to some, discord to many. It promotes order and amplifies anarchy. It employs many brilliant engineers but has — too slowly — recognized that the multiple challenges it faces involve the realms of philosophy, ethics, journalism, religion, geography, and human rights. And it makes a whole lot of money, and a whole lot of enemies, while doing this. To address this, it needs independent, external oversight."

The NUJ reports: "Two-thirds of UK media workers have suffered financially because of the pandemic and lockdown, with freelances being hit especially hard and feeling unsupported by the government’s financial aid package. The decrease in household income varied across the more than 1,200 members of the NUJ who responded to the union’s survey, but when the figures were broken down between staff and self-employed, a third of freelances said their work had dried up completely and a further third said it had decreased sharply. The overall figure for members losing 80-100 per cent of their income was 18 per cent."

Media Quotes of the Week: From tech giants windfall tax could save media from disaster to don't moan about paywalls they pay for the journalism

Damian Collins, quoted in The Times [£]: “We need to redress the balance between tech platforms and news companies. There needs to be more of a level playing field. This is something we should have been doing anyway, but the coronavirus has massively affected the news media.. We’re seeing papers going out of print. The entire ad revenue-funded model for news content has been massively challenged - it makes the case for action even more urgent.”

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet proposing a recovery plan for the median the face of Covid-19: "We need a triage plan of intervention and investment. That will involve action to stem the immediate damage being wrought, and longer-term measures to heal historic wounds. Our aim is to create a healthy diverse press, focussed squarely on the public good, one that can be sustained now and into the future. That’s why we want governmental commitments to a range of actions – some immediate and some when the worst of this crisis is over – that will create a news industry firmly rooted in the public interest journalism which will deepen public engagement in our democratic structures.”

The measures include:

• A windfall tax of 6 per cent on the tech giants, using the Digital Services Tax, towards funding a News Recovery Plan.
• Tax credits and interest free loans to support journalist jobs, for frontline reporters covering the Covid-19 crisis and recovery.
• No public money for firms making redundancies, cutting pay, giving executive bonuses or blocking trade union organisation.
• Strategic investment in government advertising, including the hyperlocal sector, involving central and local governments and public bodies.
• Further funding by NESTA’s Future News Fund of innovative, public interest journalism and a similar scheme in Ireland
• Free vouchers for online or print subscriptions to all 18-and-19-year olds and tax credits for households with subscriptions.

The Times [£] in a leader: "Facebook and Google between them now take more than two-thirds of the digital advertising revenue in Britain. This was a serious problem before the coronavirus struck but the lockdown is making life increasingly hard for print newspapers, especially local titles, as sales and advertising fall simultaneously. The gathering of news is a democratic necessity and there should be no objection to those who profit from it, as tech companies do, paying a fairer price."

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden in The Times [£]: "I have written to the 100 biggest brands in the UK to urge them to review their advertising policies and check they are not inappropriately blocking adverts from appearing next to news providing a vital public service... Newspapers are at heart of the British media and essential to its vibrant mix. People across the country are rising to the coronavirus challenge and I suggest we all add one small thing to our to do list: buy a paper.."

HoldTheFrontPage reports: "The UK’s first employee-owned newspaper is among a number of new regional press titles to reveal they have temporarily ceased publication. The West Highland Free Press has announced the measure in response to the coronavirus pandemic, along with other independently-owned papers across the country. The same move has also been confirmed by the Leicestershire-based Times series, the Stranraer and Wigtownshire Free Press and Tindle-owned weekly The Forest of Dean & Wye Valley Review."

Committee to Protect Journalists executive director Joel Simon, following the publishing of a new report "The Trump Administration and the Media": “Journalists in the U.S. have been largely undeterred by the daily barrage of pressure, insults, and abuse emanating from President Trump. But the president’s attacks on the media have had an impact. They have undermined public trust in journalism as an institution, a dangerous place to find ourselves in the midst of a public health emergency. And they have empowered autocrats around the world who are cracking down on press freedom with unbridled ferocity at a time when truthful information is more than ever a precious commodity.”

Isabel Oakeshott on Twitter: "I can't believe politicians are lashing out at journalists for asking perfectly legitimate questions about how we get out of the lockdown. Ministers seem to think voters are too stupid to understand more than one message!"

BBC News media editor Amol Rajan on Twitter: "Was a pointless answer on Pointless this week. My work here on Earth is done."

Duke and Duchess of Sussex in a letter to the editors of the Sun, Mail, Mirror and Express saying they will not co-operate with their papers, as reported by BBC News: "The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are looking forward to working with journalists and media organisations all over the world, engaging with grassroots media, regional and local media, and young, up-and-coming journalists, to spotlight issues and causes that so desperately need acknowledging. And they look forward to doing whatever they can to help further opportunities for more diverse and underrepresented voices, who are needed now more than ever. What they won't do is offer themselves up as currency for an economy of click bait and distortion."

• The Daily Star reports: "The Daily Star is the best by 'smiles' according to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Their official spokesman has confirmed we are the only tabloid in Britain the LA-based pair haven’t banned...The Daily Star has made it clear to the couple know that we are ready to share their good news and announcements with our army of readers - and our door will always be open to them."

The Times' Sean O'Neill on Twitter: "Really riles when people on twitter moan about having to pay to read journalism - do they go to the shops and moan 'why is this milk/bread behind a paywall, it's just not fair, you should be giving it away for free'."

Ian Carter on Twitter: "Lots of people rightly praising @thesundaytimes  Insight report into Government pandemic planning. Same people happily copy and pasting the entire article to avoid the paywall. Keep doing that and this type of journalism won't exist any more."

Polly Vernon on Twitter: "My god! The Sunday Times article is not ‘sitting behind a paywall’ so as to deprive those who can’t afford it... it’s asking that people pay for it, so more articles like it can be produced. Don’t read it for free!"

Richard Osman on Twitter: "Just been to the newsagent and can’t believe the Mars Bars are behind a paywall."

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Media Quotes of the Week: From ministers warned of legal threats to silence Carole Cadwalladr to why PM Boris Johnson chose politics over journalism

Open letter sent to the UK foreign and culture secretaries from press freedom campaigners, as reported by the Observer: "Following the recent global conference on media freedom held in London by the UK government, we write to draw your attention to what appears to be a growing trend to use strategic litigation against public participation (“SLAPP”) lawsuits as a means of intimidating and silencing journalists working in the public interest. Such legal threats are designed to inhibit ongoing investigations, and prevent legitimate public interest reporting. Abuse of defamation law, including through SLAPP lawsuits, has become a serious threat to press freedom and advocacy rights in a number of countries, including the UK."

The letter adds: "Numerous legal and online threats have been made against Carole Cadwalladr, whose journalism for the Observer and a range of other publications has stimulated a global debate about the power of online platforms to influence the behaviour of citizens, and raised important questions about the regulation of digital technology. The legal claim against Ms Cadwalladr, issued on 12 July by lawyers acting for Arron Banks, is another example of a wealthy individual appearing to abuse the law in an attempt to silence a journalist and distract from these issues being discussed by politicians, the media and the public at a critical time in the life of our democracy."

Observer editor Paul Webster in the Observer on Carole Cadwalladr: "Throughout her investigations she has been the target of a relentless campaign of smears and vilification by some of the subjects of her inquiries. The latest legal threats are a further attempt to smother vital investigative reporting.”

Steven Edginton in the Mail on Sunday stating he received the leak of ambassador Sir Kim Darroch's cables on the Trump administration: "Today I want to set the record straight and reveal the real story about how Sir Kim's diplomatic cables entered the public domain. I am sorry to disappoint the conspiracy theorists but this was not a Brexiteer plot to topple Sir Kim, nor was it some devilish scheme to torpedo the independence of the Civil Service by installing a political appointee in Washington. Instead, it was simply an honest journalistic endeavour...I worked first as a video journalist for a political website called Westmonster before stints as a digital strategist at the Taxpayers' Alliance and Leave Means Leave campaign. Since April, I have worked for the Brexit Party, helping run its social media feeds. I appreciate that my CV – and my pro-Brexit views – will inevitably fuel the conspiracy theories but I want to be absolutely clear: the leak of Sir Kim's cables had absolutely nothing to do with the Brexit Party."

Jon Sopel @BBCJonSopel on Twitter: "I’m sorry. I just don’t buy this. This account begs far more questions than it answers."

Lionel Barber @lionelbarber on Twitter: "The plot thickens.....but the idea that a 19 year old cub reporter was primarily responsible for the Darroch leak defies belief. After all, this involved a trove of diplomatic cables not a snatched telephone conversation about Ambo views on Trump!"

The NUJ in a statement on possible sale of former Johnston Press newspapers to Reach: “If parts of JPI Media are sold to Reach there will be an adverse impact on the market and those employed within it. A takeover of this kind would limit the scope for future jobs in the entire sector. Any deal that includes JPI Media’s flagship regional titles would lead to the market being dominated by just two companies - Reach and Newsquest. Both organisations have been relentless in reducing original content and the provision of local professional journalism. The union is concerned that decisions on editorial policy and news gathering and practice will be concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer people and so we are calling on parliamentarians to investigate the lack of media plurality in Britain."

The Guardian reports: "Claims by Boris Johnson that regulations imposed by 'Brussels bureaucrats' were damaging the trade in kippers have been debunked by the European Commission, which said that the food safety obligations criticised by him were due to rules set by Britain."

Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies, chair of the European Parliament's fisheries committee, quoted in the Mirror: "Boris Johnson made his career as a journalist by writing stories about the EU that bore no relation to the truth.His latest fishy tale may have gone down well with Tory party members, but it sends the strongest possible message to Britain's European partners."

Alan Rusbridger @arusbridger on Twitter: "Truly Orwellian. A complete fiction about a kipper. Followed by a promise to 'restore trust in politics'. "

David Yelland @davidyelland on Twitter: "Boris Johnson built a career on lying about Brussels and he’s still at it."

Jim Pickard @PickardJE on Twitter: "Boris Johnson once told a colleague of mine he wanted to enter politics because 'no one puts up statues to journalists', that pretty much sums it up."

Media Quotes of the Week: From this story shows why local journalism matters to does Donald Tusk understand the British better than the Brexit press?

Impartial Reporter deputy editor Rodney Edwards @rodneyedwards on Twitter: "This is why local journalism matters. Victims of child sex abuse in Fermanagh have been contacting @impartialrep almost every day since our first story broke. Finally their voices are being heard. But their abusers have never been prosecuted. Serious Qs for police and others."

Paul Caruana Galizia on Tortoise, writing about the murder of his mother, the investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta:  "I left Malta a few hours after my mother’s funeral and haven’t returned since. It is safer and easier, for me, to fight our battles against the governing Labour Party and Maltese state, who continue to block a public inquiry into our mother’s death despite a legal obligation to call one, from London. In the end, what was it all for? Everything. Her journalism was our guiding light on everything. She shaped us and our country into something better. And now that Malta has killed its Cassandra, our Daphne, it is having to face up to what she’s been trying to tell us all along."

Fraser Nelson in the Spectator: "When I became editor, I told my wife that the job was certain to last only last a few years. I thought I’d go down with Rod Liddle, that he and I would drive like Thelma and Louise over the cliff in the name of free speech. We’ve come close a few times, but stayed (just) on the right side: the issue you’re reading is my 500th as editor. Over the past ten years, I’ve had the great pleasure of meeting many readers, and their most common plea is ‘Don’t tone down Rod’. It’s just as well: I’m not sure anyone could."

Society of Editors executive director Ian Murray responds to measures announced by the government to crack down on internet harms:  "The creation of new regulations to protect the vulnerable in society as outlined by the Secretary of State should be and will be broadly welcomed by anyone who feels the digital sphere has become too lawless.But the devil is always in the detail and where the white paper moves into areas concerning the spread of misinformation - so called fake news - we should all be concerned. Who will decide what is fake news? This form of censorship in the hands of those who would shackle the press and curtail freedom of expression would be disastrous for our free society. There is no use pretending there are not politicians who wish to silence some debates who would use this as a weapon if permitted."

Guido Fawkes on the internet harms proposal: "There is also a risk that a future Corbyn govenment will use the legislation against political opponents. When you see the likes of Owen Jones being applauded for describing the Spectator, Sun, Mail, Telegraph, Express and of course Guido, as “spreading hate”, you can easily imagine the legislation being used by a Corbyn government to close down dissident media. This is a dangerous path being foolishly and short-sightedly cheered on by newspapers who think it will scupper the global platforms who are eating into their advertising revenue."

Sun on Sunday political editor David Wooding @DavidWooding on Twitter: "Commons leak inquiry. Torrent of water gushing through roof of the chamber. Unfortunately, it is pouring into the Press Gallery rather than the drips who can’t decide how to Brexit. Stop Press: Sitting suspended."

Jeremy Hunt in the Sun: "Everyone has an interest in allowing journalists to do their jobs because countries with a free media are always better governed. If you look up the ten least corrupt nations in the world, as ranked by Transparency International last year, seven also appear in the top ten of the Press Freedom Index. It is not hard to see why. Powerful people will be less likely to abuse their positions if there is a real risk of being found out. Newspapers do make mistakes and journalists are only human. But none of us would wish to live in a nation where the media is gagged. Britain’s job is to take that message to the world, and I will do everything possible to help journalists to work in safety."

Independent Press Standards Orgaisation rejecting a complaint by the NUJ against the Newsquest-owned Cumberland News over a report of a strike by its members last December: "The Code does not include a requirement for balance. However, there may be certain circumstances where a publication’s presentation of a particular subject, for example, through its decision to include certain pieces of information and omit others, may render the article misleading. This was not such a case."



Norman Giller on the Sports Journalists' Association website on reporting from the new Spurs stadium: "Today’s journalists are spoon-fed background information and match details, but the challenge is just the same as ‘in our day’ to find the right words at the right time when that first whistle blows. But because they send their words into the ether they do not have to clear the hurdles that faced us, with copy takers saying: 'Are you staff …?' 'How d’you spell your name …?' 'Is there much more of this …?' 'I can’t hear you because of the crowd in the background …'I'm changing my typewriter ribbon, you’ll have to wait …' "

Peter Sands, SMS Retweeted Metro Newspaper UK

Peter Sands @petersands55 on Twitter: "The only people in the UK truly enjoying the Brexit chaos are the @MetroUKNews front page subs."

David Yelland on Twitter: "Donald Tusk understands the British at this moment better than my successor currently editing The Sun. His intel and his instincts have outmanoeuvred the Brexit press."

Media Quotes of the Week: From Paul Dacre defended as 'newspaperman of genius' in Guardian letter to there's nothing as ex as an ex-editor

Former Observer and Independent editor Roger Alton in a letter to the Guardian: "Could I correct a couple of points in Polly Toynbee’s extraordinarily mendacious article about the Daily Mail (Bully-in-chief Dacre is off. Good riddance, 8 June). As someone who has knocked around a few newsrooms, let me assure you that there is less “racism, homophobia and philistinism” – to quote Toynbee – at the Daily Mail than at many of the other places I have known. Paul Dacre is a very great man and a newspaperman of genius who has done as much to improve the quality of life in Britain as anybody I can think of. One of my great regrets about his departure is that the scoundrels, rogues and thieves who stalk this pleasant land will soon have a much freer ride than before. They will not be sad that he is going. Ms Toynbee refers to the 1950s: a pleasant decade in my memory, not least because no one had to listen to Polly Toynbee talking nonsense."

Polly Toynbee in the Guardian on Paul Dacre: "Asked for the winning formula of his Daily Mail, Lord Northcliffe replied: 'I give my readers a daily hate.' No one has kept that flame burning more brightly than Paul Dacre, poisoner of the national psyche, bully-in-chief, whose iron whim has terrified prime ministers for a quarter of a century...Like all bullies he targets underdogs, imposing on the country racism, homophobia and philistinism, and shunning complexity and evidence."

Leave backer Arron Banks, appearing before the Media and Culture Committee looking into fake news: "We teased journalists. They are the cleverest, stupidest people on earth."

Carole Cadwalladr, after the Sunday Times and the Observer both splashed on Russian links with Leave campaigners amid claims story was given to the Sunday Times to 'spoil' the Observer scoop, quoted by Press Gazette: “Journalists jealously guard their scoops. However in this instance I thought if this is what it took to get this information out in the public domain, it also had to go in the Sunday Times, I was delighted, really pleased. The objective was to get it into the public domain. Whether that’s in the Observer or the Sunday Times I don’t care that much.”

Les Hinton in the Mail on Sunday on Norman Scott: "I found myself appointed Scott’s ‘minder’ when my newspaper, The Sun, did a deal with him for exclusive interviews. In my media career, I’ve spent time with presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and princes, the Sex Pistols, a couple of Rolling Stones, and a few billionaires but I’ll never forget my days in the depths of Devon with Norman Scott. It was a bleak period for the media — hoodwinked into believing Scott was a freak and a liar.When the Sunday Mirror received a dossier of powerful evidence to support Scott’s claim, the editor sent it to Thorpe and didn’t publish a word. Even in 1976, when the Thorpe-Scott scandal blew up into a national story, the Sunday Times published a front-page lead, headlined: The lies of Norman Scott."

Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, interviewed in the Daily Telegraph [£]: "My job is to walk into an editor's office, throw a dead rat full of lice on their desk and say 'this what I want to do for the next three months, it's going to cost you a lot of money, you are going to get sued, you are going to get threats, and you are going to lose customers - but let's go at it!'"

The Committee to Protect Journalists' North America program coordinator Alexandra Ellerbeck in a statement on the seizure of phone and email records from New York Times reporter Ali Watkins by the United States Justice Department: "In order to perform their public accountability function, journalists must be able to protect their confidential sources. Efforts by government that undermine this ability therefore represent a fundamental threat to press freedom. This is why we believe that the government's seizure of Ali Watkins's data sets a dangerous precedent. We fear it could be an opening salvo in an ongoing battle over reporters' ability to protect their sources."

Steve Bird, father of chapel at the Financial Times, backing an NUJ campaign for journalists to take a proper lunch break outside their newsrooms on the longest day of the year next Thursday (June 21): "NUJ activists should follow the example set in Leeds to organise and promote a picnic outside of the office on the longest day of the year. Hopefully, this will provide an extra reason to get out of the office and will draw attention to the central issues of work stress and long hours.

Findings of a study into decline of local press in the US, reported by the Guardian: "When a local newspaper closes, the cost of government increases. That’s the conclusion of new survey from Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, which draws a direct line between loss of the watchful eyes of local newspapers and a decline in government efficiency."

Dominic Ponsford in Press Gazette: "Reading the Daily Mail is for me a little like eating foie gras.  There is some guilt about the suffering that has gone into its production, but you cannot deny that it somehow adds to the richness of the flavour."

David Yelland @davidyelland ‏on Twitter: "Putting remainer Geordie Greig in at the Daily Mail isn’t just big news it is revolutionary. This changes everything for Brexit and the consequences could be historic."

Paul Dacre in The Spectator [£]: “Support for Brexit is in the DNA of both the Daily Mail and, more pertinently, its readers. Any move to reverse this would be editorial and commercial suicide.”

Roy Greenslade in the Guardian: "At times, such as the front-page attacks on judges and Gina Miller, Dacre appeared to have lost all reason. How, one was given to saying, can Rothermere live with this stuff? Why is he keeping him in the chair? Now it is all too late. Greig will certainly pursue a less strident line, but the damage has been done. Dacre, the grand old Duke of York, marched his army up to the top of the Brexit hill, and they are still there, firing Mail-manufactured missiles at the so-called Remoaners. Greig cannot march them down again. He cannot turn back the clock. Although Brexit will be seen as Dacre’s legacy, see it instead as Rothermere’s. The last of Britain’s press barons has let his country down."

Matt Kelly @mk1969 on Twitter: "Logistics of the Mail changes make it seem likely that Dacre was pushed. No way he’d be happy with Greig as successor and no way would he be happy with him reporting to Rothermere He’s been totally bypassed in 24 hours. Some legacy!...and as @campbellclaret once told me; there’s nothing as ex as an ex-editor."

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