Media Quotes of the Week: From there are lots of commentators on crime but few court reporters to respect for MPs who go to their local papers first

Duncan Campbell in the Guardian on the decline in court reporting: "At the Old Bailey in the last few of months of last year there were six simultaneous murder trials under way, all interesting and revealing in their different ways, all concerned with fatal stabbings, and the press benches were empty most days. There is no shortage of commentators writing about crime and the causes of crime, but such space would often be better served by an accurate report on how such offences happen in the first place and how they are investigated, prosecuted, defended, judged and punished. The situation is worst for local and regional papers. A day in any magistrates court is as illuminating on the state of the nation in terms of homelessness, mental health, immigration, drug-taking, alcohol abuse, race, domestic violence and poverty as any lengthy thinktank report. Once reports from these court were an essential ingredient of every local paper. No more."

Neil Allen of The News, Portsmouth after being named Regional Journalist of the Year in the British Sports Journalism Award: "I would like to dedicate this to all local and regional sports reporters. The hierarchy at football clubs can ban us, can try to discredit us, even try to get us the sack but we always, always outlast these people."

Former head of BBC Television News Roger Mosey in the New Statesman on BBC plans to cut news and political programming: "At a time when the biggest decisions in our lifetime are being made and when politics matters more than ever, our leading public service broadcaster has decided to cut back on news and political programming. It is doing so by creating a false choice between serious news and youth-orientated shows when it has resources and air-time to do both - and when that is what audiences have a right to expect."

Jeremy Corbyn at a rally in Broxtowe, as reported by Joe: "As you may have noticed, some of the mainstream media are sometimes slightly hostile and critical. I've noticed it, and what I've noticed is they're very unkeen on relating to the issues that people face. I did an interview for Sky last night, it was 14 minutes the interview. We got to, I think, minute 12 before I intervened and said 'Is there any chance anybody other than an MP could be referred to in any of your questions, and we could actually talk about the homeless, the poverty, the hospital waiting lists. Is there any chance we could talk about the issues that people face in their day-to-day lives?'"

The NUJ and Bectu in a joint statement on Tommy Robinson and his demo against the BBC in in Salford over a forthcoming Panorama investigation:  “We roundly condemn Tommy Robinson and his fellow, far-right thugs...He is the subject of a Panorama investigation and on his Facebook page has videoed a tirade against the corporation. The NUJ and Bectu say BBC staff should be free to do their jobs without these threats. Intimidation, threats and violence carried out by far-right protesters systematically targeting the media, especially photojournalists, are becoming more frequent and we will always call out this behaviour and report criminal activity to the police."

Donald Trump @realDonaldTrump on Twitter: "The Press has never been more dishonest than it is today. Stories are written that have absolutely no basis in fact. The writers don’t even call asking for verification. They are totally out of control. Sadly, I kept many of them in business. In six years, they all go BUST!"

Rachael Pacella @rachaelpacella on Twitter: "As one of six survivors of our nation's only newsroom mass shooting, seeing generalized media-bashing tweets from the president makes me fear for my life. His words have power, and give bad actors justification to act."

Caroline Schelle, of the Australian Associated Press, reporting for the Herald Sun: "A Melbourne newspaper journalist who reported on some of the city's gangland war has been awarded $180,000 in damages for post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression. The former reporter at The Age worked in the role for almost a decade until 2013 and covered major stories including the death of four-year-old Darcey Freeman, who was thrown off the West Gate Bridge by her father. She also covered gangland murders, road deaths, fires and police shootings."

Richard Osley Retweeted Express & Star

Tim Walker asked to give advice to new journalists by Muhammed Raza Hussain on Newsleaf: "Be yourselves and be true to what you believe in, not what the proprietor you end up working for believes in. All the journalists I love the most – Kevin Maguire, Matthew d’Ancona and, though sadly no longer with us, Anthony Howard, who gave me my first national newspaper job on The Observer – command respect because they are always true to their own lights. We need more individualists in journalism, not more yes men and women. People like that come and go and are quickly forgotten."

Verified account

Carole Walker @carolewalkercw on Twitter: "PM on plane.... Asked what she will do if she loses on March 12, May told reporters: "Why is it that people are always trying to look for the next thing after the next thing after the next thing?" ... well i wonder... maybe its because the next thing is the UK leaving the EU ..?"

Verified account

Camden New Journal deputy editor Richard Osley @RichardOsley ‏‏on Twitter: "If you’ve got some big news, tell it to the people who matter first - your constituents - via the local newspaper."

Graeme Demianyk @GraemeDemianyk on Twitter: "Respect to politicians who give the story to their local paper first. A dying tradition."

Media Quotes of the Week: From Trinity Mirror's targets to being screwed by Richard Desmond

Chris Morley, NUJ Northern & Midlands organiser, on Trinity Mirror's plans for the West Midlands: "The proposed introduction of individual web targets for writers is a major departure from industry norms. It raises all kinds of questions about what sort of journalism will emerge and how stories are selected and covered. Our members in the Midlands are rightly uneasy with what they have so far been told about these targets, how they will be used and what effect they will have on their journalism...The management said it no longer sees its newspapers as papers of record. This is an insult to their readers, who need to be told about what is happening in their councils, health and police authorities, schools and environment."

Alan Geere in Press Gazette: "Yippedeedoo, at long last something 'unprecedented in the industry', just what we need to revitalise the dying patient."

David Higgerson on his blog: "Audience targets aren’t something to be fearful of if they’re done in the right way. And there is no incentive to go about them the wrong way. Journalists should always be asking whether they are doing something because it will interest readers, or just because they’ve always done it. It’s what the many new competitors ask themselves when they get going. It’s a big question, but the answer helps us focus on making our journalism essential daily reading for our audiences. For those who have been so quick to announce this as the end of journalism, I can’t help but think they’ve fallen into the oldest trap of all: Not letting the facts get in the way of a good headline. I think that’s called clickbait these days."

Grey Cardigan on TheSpinAlley: "As regular readers will know, I despair of local newspaper websites that post national or even international clickbait. It has no relevance to readers, is of no value to advertisers, and irritates the shit out of people who expect local news from the local media. Trinity Mirror’s latest cowardly withdrawal from the front line of news will only make things worse. They may not be waving the white flag quite yet, but they certainly deserve a white feather."

Jonathan Dimbleby talking to the Radio Times: “The BBC has enemies, it has powerful enemies. It has powerful enemies in the press and powerful enemies in Westminster. Some for ideological reasons, some for straight commercial reasons.”

Richard Osley, deputy editor of the Camden New Journal, blogs about the retirement of Islington Tribune reporter Peter Gruner: "It’s not radical to wonder whether there are too many newsrooms with hardly a face aged over 25, full of reporters with instantly expansive job titles but with stories that have come almost solely from social media. I can’t think of a story that Peter lifted off someone’s tweet. The contrast with the way that Peter, when in the mood, got his stories and the way young reporters fresh out of an expensive course do tells a tale in itself. That’s not to say that new and old don’t have their place but here was a guy who, shock horror, picked up the phone and spoke to contacts, and sometimes went and met people for coffee."

Hugh McIlvanney in the Sunday Times [£]: "What was foreseen as Newcastle United’s public confirmation of Steve McClaren as the club’s new manager wasn’t public at all. Only selected media partners, Sky Sports and the Daily Mirror, were permitted interview access to McClaren. All other reporters were shut out. Though an undercurrent of contempt for journalists is hardly unknown elsewhere in football, Wednesday’s pantomime was unmistakably characteristic of the demented fiefdom Newcastle United seems to have become under the ownership of Mike Ashley."

Peter Preston in The Observer: "When Leveson was first called to inquire four years ago, national dailies sold 9,774,845 copies a day and national Sundays 9,661,298. Those figures respectively are now 6,992,804 and 6,624,137. At this rate, there’ll soon be nothing recognisable left to regulate anyway."

Mick Hume in the Sunday Times [£]: "The free-speech fraud around the Paris killings did not come out of the blue. Almost everybody in public life pays lip-service to the principle of free speech. Scratch the surface, however, and in practice most will add the inevitable 'but . . .' to button that lip and put a limit on liberty.  It is the culmination of a steady loss of faith in freedom of speech and the ability of people to handle uncomfortable words or images. In recent years it has become fashionable not only to declare yourself offended by what somebody else says, but to use the 'offence card' to trump free speech and demand that they be prevented from saying it."

The Daily Mail in a leader: "The Mail has grave reservations about giving increased surveillance powers to the state but we believe passionately that public safety is paramount. By sabotaging investigations, Twitter and the rest (who, by the way, make a living out of spying on their own customers and selling on personal data) have become the terrorists’ best friends."

Henry Mance, lunching with Richard Desmond, in the Financial Times: "In Richard Desmond’s hands, simple objects become terrifying. There’s the receptionist’s bell that he uses to interrupt executives in board meetings, or the cups of tea that occasionally fly over underlings.  For me, the terror begins when he picks up the wine list. This is Coq d’Argent, a rooftop restaurant overlooking the Bank of England. The prices look like cricket scores — and Desmond is on the hunt for an innings victory. 'We’ll have that one,' he says, before I can intervene. As the sommelier skips away, the sum of £580 lingers on my retina. So this, I think, is how it feels to be screwed by Richard Desmond. It took less than 10 minutes."

Henry Mance ‏@henrymance  on Twitter: "Last night I asked Richard Desmond if he was annoyed by the interview. He turned to his security guy and said, 'Use nice concrete, yeah?' "

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What the f*** would Malcom Tucker say!

A picture opportunity for campaigning Tories in this week's Camden New Journal was somewhat undermined by the grinning group being snapped in front of an estate agent's board reading "For Sale - Camerons Stiff & Co".
Camden New Journal's deputy editor Richard Osley writes on his blog: "It was only when I picked up this week’s New Journal and saw Tom Foot’s story and picture about the 35-MP Tory assault on Hampstead and Kilburn that my eyes looked to the right and spotted something I hadn’t seen when the page was being laid out… oops, look at the estate agent board behind Chris Philp’s gang of campaigning Conservatives. The most innocent of things, but surely not the first choice of election backdrops for this lot…"