Showing posts with label Theresa May. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Theresa May. Show all posts

Thursday, 4 October 2018

Media Quotes of the Week: From Canary accused over deportation of journalist to Labour drops press complaints over Corbyn wreath-laying stories




Mark Di Stefano on BuzzFeed: "The Committee to Protect Journalists says a freelance journalist writing for the Guardian and Washington Post has been arrested and deported from Nicaragua after a 'targeted online harassment campaign'. Last week, Carl David Goette-Luciak's reporting on anti-government protests in Nicaragua was attacked by US journalist Max Blumenthal in an article published on an American website called Mint Press and British left-wing site the Canary.The Mint Press article was titled "How an American Anthropologist Tied to US Regime-Change Proxies Became the MSM's Man in Nicaragua", while the Canary ran the headline, "Investigation slams Guardian cooperation with novice reporter linked to US regime-change machine."


The NUJ in a statement: "Carl David Goette-Luciak, who has been reporting from the country [Nicaragua] for The Guardian and The Washington Post, was seized from his home in Managua on Monday, held in detention for five hours at the airport and then deported to San Salvador in El Salvador. During his detention and interrogation he was accused of attending illegal protests, disseminating false information, threatened with torture and accused of being a CIA agent. His arrest came in the wake of online reports, smears and personal information, including his home address, being widely circulated."
  • Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary:“Unfounded accusations against journalists of being spies, agents and terrorists are tactics used by repressive regimes throughout the world. Online smear campaigns designed to add to that pressure clearly serve to increase the risk and danger to all journalists working in already difficult environments."

The Canary encouraging a Twitterstorm against the Guardian for its coverage of Jeremy Corbyn and antisemitism: "On 27 September, Media Reform UK released a report that said the media wrongly reported on antisemitism in the Labour Party. And the Guardian is named as one such culprit. But it’s not just media analysts that have questioned the Guardian‘s stance. Plenty of readers, including those on the left, have started to wonder what role the newspaper really plays. That’s why the #BoycottTheGuardian Twitterstorm will be an important moment. It will display, in public, a growing suspicion of the newspaper’s relationship with the powerful. And it’s something we can all take part in."



Canary editor-in-chief Kerry-Anne Mendoza  @TheMendozaWoman on Twitter: "You did it! #BoycottTheGuardian is trending! Well done everyone for making a stand for quality, diverse and honest journalism. Together we're going to rebuild the media. And everyone but the establishment will benefit from it."


Financial Times editor Lionel Barber @lionelbarber on Twitter: "So we now have Corbynistas #BoycottTheGuardian on top of promised press regulation from official Labour. What exactly are they afraid of?"


Jim Waterson and Peter Walker in the Guardian: "The Labour leader also showed his attitude to the media by simply skipping much of the press round, which usually accompanied a party conference speech, such as a traditional interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. Newspaper reporters learned the hard way about how they were now perceived by the party – their desks at the conference were situated outside the main building, in a tent in a car park accessed by following signs for a 'dog exercise area'."


Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1 on Twitter: "I have now been BANNED from Labour Party conference for making THIS Twitter joke about their absurd #SafeSpace. It seems we now have to get all jokes pre-approved by @jeremycorbyn. Ridiculous & sinister to ban a journalist from doing her job cos you don’t like her joke."



Donald Trump mocking reporter Cecilia Vega of ABC at press conference, as reported by Business Insider: "I know you're not thinking. You never do."


Owen Jones in the Guardian on the Sky News interview with Tommy Robinson: "The British media are not going to defeat the far right. They will continue to give a platform to them and legitimise their leading figures. The press, in particular, will keep feeding them by spreading hatred and lies about Muslims, migrants and refugees. The far right will not be debated out of existence. It will be defeated, not by the media’s clever bastards, but by a left that offers hope and combats racism and bigotry without apology."


Simon Jenkins in the Guardian on party conferences: "Don’t go to party conferences. Ignore them. They should be banned. When blind loyalty meets crazed dissent fuelled by personal ambition, the result is a disease, a ghastly rash on the body politic. The overheated, hysterical, alcoholic, distorting atmosphere of these events leads to misjudgment – not least by journalists disoriented by being corralled for weeks far from London."


Jim Waterson in the Guardian: "Labour’s mass complaint to the press regulator Ipso over this summer’s press coverage of Jeremy Corbyn’s visit to a Tunisian cemetery in 2014 has been dropped, according to individuals at the newspapers involved. The party made the unprecedented decision to complain against most national newspapers, complaining that the Sun, the Times, the Telegraph, the Daily Mail, the Express and Metro had misrepresented the event, which saw the Labour leader attend a ceremony commemorating Palestinians who died in the country. The party had complained that the articles suggested he was commemorating members of the Black September terrorist group or those who carried out the 1972 Munich massacre, which Corbyn denied."

Dan Hodges @DPJHodges on Twitter: "Corbyn’s decision to drop his complaint over the wreath laying confirms what we always knew. The press told the truth. He didn’t....Corbyn’s decision also confirms something else we’ve always known. His definition of a ‘media smear’ is in reality a factual news report that paints him in a negative light."

  • The Guardian has further reported: "It can now be revealed that the complaint was shelved after the party missed a deadline to tell Ipso that it still wanted to push ahead with the challenge to newspapers. Labour is now asking the press regulator to make an exception to its rules and reopen the case despite missing the deadline, on the basis of the “extenuating circumstances” that officials were too busy dealing with party conference preparations and a staff member had been ill for several days."


Wednesday, 7 February 2018

Media Quotes of the Week: From PM announces review into the future of newspapers to how many journalists does it take to down a 13 bottle lunch?



Theresa May, announcing a review of the future sustainability of newspapers in the UK and whether creators are appropriately rewarded for their online content, as reported by BBC News: "Good quality journalism provides us with the information and analysis we need to inform our viewpoints and conduct a genuine discussion. It is a huge force for good. But in recent years - especially in local journalism - we've seen falling circulations, a hollowing-out of local newsrooms, and fears for the future sustainability of high quality journalism...This is dangerous for our democracy. When trusted and credible news sources decline, we can become vulnerable to news which is untrustworthy."


NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet, welcoming the review: "The media industry is in crisis today, more than 300 local newspapers have been closed in the past decade and more than half of all parliamentary constituencies do not have a dedicated daily local newspaper. We have consistently highlighted the severity of this situation – our local communities deserve better. Hollowed-out shells of titles are no substitute for properly-resourced titles, with real investment in the provision of news and information that communities are crying out for."


Sun chief reporter@ByTomWells on Twitter:"Worth noting this morning that that the quite extraordinary development in the ‘Nick’ saga can only be revealed today because of a legal battle launched - and won - by @TheSun."


Caitlin Moran in The Times [£] on the Piers Morgan interview with Donald Trump:"He didn’t mention the investigation into Russian collusion, or his repeated threats of nuclear attacks on North Korea, or ask how a man with the hugest information resources on Earth could have the brass balls to claim that it was OK to retweet the racist organisation Britain First because he “didn’t know who they were”. It really wasn’t journalism. The next day the ratings came in — only three million. The afternoon quiz Eggheads gets 2.4 million, so it wasn’t really showbusiness in the end — it was no business. Celebrity-wise, Trump and Morgan are a failed double act."


Piers Morgan‏ on Twitter: "BREAKING NEWS:I think we have a late winner of my £1000 prize for the nastiest, bitchiest review of #TrumpMorgan by a jealous media rival - congrats @caitlinmoran! I’ll send the money to SAS hero Bob Curry to help him kit out his new home."


David Hepworth in Inside Publishing on Fire and Fury: "Michael Wolff is a magazine journalist by trade. After this book, it’s reasonable to assume that he’s one of the wealthier magazine journalists in the world. Most of his career has been spent writing for people like Vanity Fair and the Hollywood Reporter. He likes being near fame and power as much as his readers like reading about fame and power. His speciality is being able to explain power to media and media to power. Here is where he has an advantage over the standard hard news guys who have been trying to fit Trump into their idea of a politician. If ever you needed proof that the pen is mightier than the You Tube clip, then the bombshell success of Wolff’s book is it. Hard news men might have thought they didn’t have enough to go on. A magazine man like Wolff knew that he had more than enough."



The Sunday Times [£] in a leader on  the decision by the Independent Press Standards Organisation to uphold a complaint against an article by Lynn Barber on a Syrian asylum seeker she took into her home: "In effect, its ruling forbids writers from telling a story without the approval of their subjects. If this stance were to be repeated, there would be no memoirs or eyewitness accounts in the press. Attempts to silence people’s first-hand experience will only drive controversial narratives to the unregulated internet...Ipso’s condemnation after Mr [Mohammed]
Ahmed complained he was discriminated against is a cruel blow to Ms Barber’s freedom of expression and the press freedom that sustains the quality of The Sunday Times’s journalism. We are submitting to its ruling because we believe in self-regulation of the press and will not bow to a state-approved regulator. But Ipso should ask itself whether its purpose is to prevent a journalist of Ms Barber’s stature from keeping faith with her readers."


IPSO in its ruling against The Sunday Times: "The article included extensive information about the complainant, relating to: his family and personal relationships; his domestic arrangements; his financial circumstances; his journey to the UK; his asylum application; his relationships and interactions with the journalist, including an argument they had had, and a letter he had written to her, expressing his feelings about the disagreement; his psychological and physical health; his drug use; and allegations about the possession of private, sexual material. These details were used to create a detailed and intimate portrait of the complainant, and his life. The complainant was not a public figure, and had not publicly disclosed the information about his experiences contained in the article, or consented to the article’s publication. The extent of this detail, published without his consent, and where no steps were taken to obscure his identity, represented an intrusion into his private life."


Trinity Mirror in a statement in open court as part of settling a phone hacking case with actor Hugh Grant, as reported by Hacked Off“A number of its senior employees, including executives, editors and journalists, condoned, encouraged or actively turned a blind eye to the widespread culture of unlawful information-gathering activities at all three of its newspapers for many years and actively sought to conceal its wrongdoing from its many victims of intrusion. its repeated and prolonged intrusions into innocent people’s lives over, in some instances, a decade, could have been prevented or interrupted. Instead, Trinity Mirror failed to properly investigate these disgraceful actions and/or to act sufficiently when the allegations of MGN’s journalists’ unlawful activities were first alleged and publicly emerged in 2006 and when the first inquiries into these wrongdoings were made.”


Dickon Ross in InPublishing on how InsideHousing magazine highlighted the dangers of cladding on tower blocks before the Grenfell Fire: "So, next time you hear someone remarking that no one, least of all the media, ever called out the conditions and the failings that led to the tragedy that was the Grenfell fire, you can correct them. They were just looking at the wrong media. At least one magazine was on the case and it was speaking truth unto power. The terrible shame is that those in power were not listening as they should."


Peter Pringle in The Times [£]: "In your otherwise excellent obituary of Philip Jacobson (January 16, 2018) [pictured] you state that the record-breaking eight-hour lunch he enjoyed in Bogotá was shared with “colleagues”. On the contrary, it was attended by just two people — myself and Philip. We were, between us, solely responsible for the 13 bottles of wine consumed that day. I believe it is only fair to the great tradition of Fleet Street lunches that the record on this matter should be set straight."

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Thursday, 16 November 2017

Media Quotes of the Week: The free press must not be demonised, don't let these journalists run the country and punk not dead for Sun sub-editors



Christiane Amanpour on CNN: "CNN has just revealed that Russian trolls invaded the space on EU Referendum day, June 23, 2016, pushing pro-Brexit sentiment while people were out casting their votes. Chillingly, one report said, one of the most dangerous places for a reporter in America these days is at a Trump rally. I suppose this isn't too surprising: After all, he's branded us in the media as all being "enemies of the American people." At this time of year, we would do well to remember that we are in fact the people's best friends. Remember that anywhere in the world, only the truth we fight for guarantees freedom. And unaccountable lies lead only to enslavement. We journalists will continue to wage this battle. The free press must not be demonized."


Guido Fawkes: "It is hard to exaggerate how annoyed senior Brexiters are by today’s Telegraph front page, which splashes on the faces of 15 Tory MPs and dubs them “the Brexit mutineers”. Prominent Leavers are tearing their hair out at how politically stupid this is and are at pains to make clear it doesn’t represent their views. It’s one thing taking apart Dominic Grieve’s arguments, but monstering 15 Remainers like this very obviously risks hardening their stance."

Matt Warman MP, former Telegraph technology editor, on Twitter:
More
Tony Gallagher on Twitter: "I can’t see what’s wrong with p1 of the Telegraph today. It’s called journalism. Absurd over-reaction."


liz gerard‏ @gameoldgirl on Twitter: "They've been doing it for months, but it doesn't make it any more acceptable. Look at the language: it's the language of war. Over opponents of something that's supposed to be about free speech, democracy, sovereignty."


Raymond Snoddy‏ on Twitter: "I like journalists - I am one- but to have the country run by two journalists Boris and Gove - is a step too far."


Theresa May, speaking about Russia at the Lord Mayor's banquet as reported by the Guardian:  “It is seeking to weaponise information. Deploying its state-run media organisations to plant fake stories and photo-shopped images in an attempt to sow discord in the west and undermine our institutions.”


The Times [£] in a leader on Alex Salmond presenting a politics show for Russia Today: "The decision is an insult to the victims of a murderous kleptocracy. The bravery and fates of those who have exposed the crimes of Mr Putin’s regime are unlikely to be raised by Mr Salmond in his rollicking dialogues. They should, however, be mentioned ceaselessly in media outlets that, unlike RT, are free and factual. Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist, was shot dead in Moscow in 2006. A judge found that it was a contract killing whose instigator was unknown. Ms Politkovskaya was a fierce critic of Mr Putin."


Press Gazette reports: "Two board members of Impress, which will rule on a Canary article about Laura Kuenssberg, have previously shared tweets questioning the impartiality of the BBC political editor. Maire Messenger Davies and Emma Jones also help set the standards by which the alternative press watchdog regulates its journalists as members of the Impress code committee. Impress is currently deciding whether an article on website the Canary, which falsely reported Kuenssberg was to speak at the Tory conference, breached its standards code."


NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet in a statement: “We also need to examine our own behaviour as journalists when it comes to the representation of sexual harassment in the media. It’s depressing to see the predictable proliferation of women columnists commissioned to denigrate colleagues speaking out, peddling the myth that these are minor issues that have been overblown, or that they emanate from women who simply can’t cut it."


Archant chief executive Jeff Henry announcing the closure of Kent on Sunday: “It is with much regret that I am announcing that Archant is to close Kent on Sunday, with publication of its last editions on the weekend of November 24-26, 2017. It has been a challenging period for the newspaper industry as a whole and whilst we have sought to stabilise this part of the business over many years, the continuing decline in commercial revenues has had an adverse effect on this newspaper title."


Google UK managing editor Ronan Harris, speaking at the Society of Editors conference: “Now think about what a newspaper or a news programme does every day. Whether it’s 100 pages or a 30 minute programme, your products and polished and curated. They have rigorous editorial processes and an editor who is ultimately responsible. They have a beginning and an end…almost the opposite of the open web. If every piece of material on the open web had to be checked and lawyered before we surfaced an answer or showed a video that would – quite simply – break the internet. We agree that we have many responsibilities. But, as the FT wrote the other day, we’re clearly not publishers in the same way that newspapers are."


FT editor Lionel Barber, also speaking at the Society of Editors conference: “Dominant technology sites must recognise they need to take more responsibility for the content that appears on their sites. Not just fake news but also hate speech and extremist propaganda.They must drop the pretence that they are simply platforms and channels for publishers rather than media companies themselves.”


The Sunday Times [£] Headline of the Week: "And finally, more proof that news sub-editors are not in the first flush of youth. The Sun reported Priti Patel’s resignation from the cabinet under the headline “Priti Vacant”. That’s a reference to Pretty Vacant, a single released by the Sex Pistols in 1977, when the former international development secretary was just five years old."

[£]=paywall

Thursday, 20 July 2017

Media Quotes of the Week: Don't use pay to bash the BBC, embargo buster Piers Morgan and what Theresa May told Donald Trump about UK press




Simon Kelner in the i: "I simply don’t understand where the publication of the BBC’s top earners gets anyone. It’s an exercise in embarrassment, instituted by a supine government in response to pressure from Rupert Murdoch and the Daily Mail. It is intrusive, grubby and, in fact, pretty meaningless, and plays only to the baser, voyeuristic instincts of the general public, while providing ammunition for the commercial and political enemies of the BBC."


Séamus Dooley, acting NUJ general secretary in a statement: "The NUJ represents a vast number of talented, underpaid and badly resourced members within the BBC. Use of the word 'talent' to describe just the top layer of workers is misleading in that every programme depends on a dedicated and talented staff, many of whom earn a fraction of that paid to the top stars...I would warn against allowing understandable anger at the level of top pay to be used as a weapon against the BBC or the principle of public service broadcasting by those with a political or commercial agenda."

Les Hinton‏ on Twitter: "#BBC salaries huge but everyone in private media knows they're not outrageous. Gender pay gap is only shocker."

David Yelland‏ on Twitter: "Anti-BBC front pages no surprise. Triples all round for John Whittingdale! I bet he'll even get dinner!.....I earned more than all the news and current affairs BBC staff on that list - other than Presenters- as Editor of The Sun. In 2003."
20 hours ago
20 hours ago

Piers Morgan‏ on Twitter: "I'd like to apologise to all fellow journalists I scooped on BBC salary story. I can't help being this good at my job, unfortunately."

Piers Morgan‏ on Twitter: "I'm also truly shocked at the size of these BBC salaries. They get out of bed for THAT?"


HuffPost reports: "Piers Morgan has been branded a 'bellend' after tweeting the pay of the BBC’s highest-paid stars before a pre-arranged embargo. The list of 109 names of those earning above £150,000 was given to journalists earlier this morning with the understanding it would not be published until 11am. Morgan ignored the embargo and began tweeting the list at 10:08 am."

Alastair Stewart on Twitter: "#BBCpay Breaking an embargo, with stuff we've all been sitting on for hours, is not a 'scoop', it is naff, delusional & unprofessional."Beth 

Beth Rigby‏ on Twitter: "@piersmorgan is utterly disgraceful to break embargo when hacks gathered at BBC for press conference & respected lock-in. Shame on him."



Ex-Number 10 communications director Katie Perrior in The Times [£] on Theresa May's former joint chief of stahff Fiona Hill: "I once stopped her going to join a bunch of political journalists at the back of the plane on the way home from a foreign trip, dressed head to toe in flannelette pyjamas and two bottles of red wine down. In hindsight, I should have bloody well let her go."


Ross Barkan in the Guardian on the closure of local newspapers in the US: "Decades ago, when small cities and towns had viable newspapers, even the most conservative readers could rail against the liberal monoliths on TV and in New York while consuming their local dailies. Reporters weren’t villains: they were neighbors, and the editor-in-chief a town fixture. We can hate most what we don’t know. If a newspaper doesn’t operate near you for a hundred miles and you only see a live journalist if one swoops in during a presidential election – or one never shows up at all – you only know what you read about on Facebook or watch on Fox News. There is no lived reality to draw from. There are only the images and the hate, symbols and distortion."


Royal Charter backed press regulator IMPRESS reports: "An arbitrator [Clive Thorne] has made an award of damages in the first legal dispute to be resolved under the IMPRESS arbitration scheme. Dennis Rice [ former investigations editor of the Mail on Sunday], the claimant, contacted IMPRESS to make a request for arbitration to settle a legal claim of defamation, harassment and malicious falsehood, arising from two tweets sent out from the Byline Media Twitter account on 6th March 2017...An award was finalised on 6th July and published on 13th July. In the award, Mr Thorne upheld the claim in part. He found one of the two tweets to be defamatory and ordered that damages of £2,500 be awarded to Mr Rice."


MediaGuido comments: "Try not to laugh too hard. The Leveson-compliant press regulator Impress has made its first adjudication, ruling against Byline Media, one of its most vocal defenders. Byline, the conspiracy theory site with tinfoil mad-hatter Peter Jukes as CEO, was found guilty of defaming tabloid journalist Dennis Rice and ordered to pay him £2,500 in damages. The irony is just too delicious. Byline signed up to Impress as part of its campaign against the tabloid press."


Peter Preston in The Observer: "The huge majority of papers backing Ipso may calculate that, as before, the sheer vehemence of their case against state-endorsed regulation will be enough to see off any renewed challenge. But no one should bank on it...There’s nothing more stupid and dangerous than sitting back and defining press freedom by whoever happens to win, or not win, an election."


John Harris who runs the Cavendish Press news agency in Manchester, quoted by Press Gazette Journalists are of course entitled to follow up news stories filed by others but as long as they do their own work on it such as getting extra background, extra quotes and extra pictures. Bashing the original version around a bit doesn’t cut the mustard anymore. Lifting court copy wholesale is not only irresponsible journalism but unethical and should have no place in today’s post-Leveson newsgathering operations."


The Society of Editors in a statement following concerns the House of Lords may once again attempt to force through Section 40 in the provisions in the Crime and Courts Act 2013 by tagging it on to other legislation: “Any further attempt during the next Parliament to force through costs provisions would rightly be judged as an appalling misuse of powers. It is absurd that while our elected, and unelected, officials are quick to condemn attacks on press freedom in Turkey and elsewhere, some remain steadfastly determined to push through legislation on their doorstep that seeks to punish those who are innocent and fine them for telling the truth. It has now been more than three years since Section 40 has been wielded over the newspaper industry like the sword of Damocles and it is time that parliament united in recognising the genuine threat that the legislation poses and takes steps to repeal it with immediate effect.”


Sir Ray Tindle handing over control of his Tindle Newspapers group to his son, Owen, quoted by Press Gazette: "I see a greater need for our local press now than I have ever seen in my 80 or so years connected with this business. Yes, local papers will survive. Local news in depth is what people need. Names, faces and places. There is no doubt about it – sufficient demand is still there. Local detailed news is in a category of its own. It has survived many years. It will live forever."


Theresa May, according to the Sun, after Donald Trump claimed he hadn't been getting great coverage over his proposed visit to the UK: “Well, you know what the British press are like.”

[£]=paywall

Thursday, 10 November 2016

Media Quotes of the Week: Prince Harry vs press, newspapers vs judges, Mail vs Guardian and how did the media get Trump's triumph so wrong?




Kensington Palace in a statement on behalf of Prince Harry: "The past week has seen a line crossed. His girlfriend, Meghan Markle, has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment. Some of this has been very public - the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments. Some of it has been hidden from the public - the nightly legal battles to keep defamatory stories out of papers; her mother having to struggle past photographers in order to get to her front door; the attempts of reporters and photographers to gain illegal entry to her home and the calls to police that followed; the substantial bribes offered by papers to her ex-boyfriend; the bombardment of nearly every friend, co-worker, and loved one in her life. Prince Harry is worried about Ms Markle's safety and is deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect her."


Jane Moore in the Sun: "MEGHAN MARKLE is an uber glamorous and talented actor who stars in one of the biggest shows on US TV and has 1.2million followers on Instagram. It’s fair to say that she’s probably used to press and public ­attention. Indeed, you could argue that it’s essential to her job.After all, an actor ­without an audience is merely rehearsing and, equally, without its legion of loyal viewers, her smash-hit series Suits would have been cancelled five seasons ago.  o when she and the media-savvy Prince Harry decided to start a relationship, one can only assume that they had an inkling of what to expect once it became public. Which is why his unprecedented statement that ­condemns the 'wave of abuse and harassment aimed at Ms Markle seems ill-advised, particularly as it’s being interpreted by some as an attack on the British press that, for the most part, treats him well."


The Guardian in a leader: "It is the misfortune of Prince Harry and Ms Markle that news of their relationship has broken just as the tabloids are relishing their renewed sense of impunity."


The Times [£] in a leader: "The prince is entitled to fight for his privacy and to seek to defend his girlfriend from coverage he regards as nasty and intrusive. In this country the public is likely to sympathise with his predicament, while being simultaneously keen to devour as much coverage as possible."


David Yelland ‏@davidyelland on Twitter: "I've just seen tomorrow's front pages. Blimey. The angriest splashes in entire Brexit era. They ain't happy..."

Gary Lineker ‏@GaryLineker on Twitter: "The front page attacks on the 3 judges for basically just doing their job is scary. This is fast becoming a dystopian land."

Michael Gove@michaelgove on Twitter: "A raucous, vigorous, press is just as much a guarantor of freedom as our independent judiciary - we are the land of Wilkes and Edward Coke."

Anna Soubry MP‏@Anna_Soubry on Twitter: "Lies verging on racism & bully boy tactics shame Britain's journalists & media #Leavers #Remainers unite to condemn."

Paul Mason in the Guardian: "In Britain, since the high-court decision, and with the tabloids ramping up their attack on the judiciary, people have been asking: what do Jonathan Harmsworth, owner of the Daily Mail, and Rupert Murdoch want? What would make them stop? The answer is: they want Britain ruled by a xenophobic mob, controlled by them. The policies are secondary – as long as their legal offshore tax-dodging facilities are maintained. They also want a Labour party they can control and a Tory party they can intimidate."

The Observer in a leader: "Castigating the judges and by extension, anybody who has the effrontery to agree with them, is exactly what the hard Tory Brexiters and their accomplices in the lie factories of Fleet Street have resorted to with a venom, vindictiveness and vituperation remarkable even by their standards. The will of the people has been thwarted by an 'activist' judiciary. These bewigged, closet Remainers, members of the fabled 'well-heeled liberal metropolitan elite', are 'enemies of the people', they shriek. Some of these sleaze-peddlers even dipped into homophobia, highlighting the sexual orientation of one of the judges. Inexcusable."

The Times [£] in a leader: "It is intellectually incoherent to uphold parliamentary sovereignty by leaving the EU, and then to seek to deny it. Those who question the judgment in such intemperate terms might calm down and read it."

The Telegraph in a leader: "In a free society and a healthy democracy, robust differences should be aired. Judges are surely able to withstand personal criticism without whingeing about their independence being under threat. It isn’t; and no one, least of all this newspaper, is suggesting that it should be."

Theresa May speaking to reporters, as quoted by The Independent: "I believe in and value the independence of our judiciary. I also value the freedom of our press. I think these both underpin our democracy and they are important."


Alex Bannister managing editor of the Daily Mail in a letter to the Guardian: "Your editorial (9 November) accepted without question the claims made in the statement by Prince Harry’s communications secretary, then used them as a vehicle to attack the tabloids, including the Mail, which, of course, is a middle-market paper with more than three times as many ABC1 readers as the Guardian...This was disingenuous to say the least: the statement was clearly addressed to the media in general, and in particular social media. No section of the British press was singled out for criticism. May I humbly suggest that if the Guardian spent as much time examining its own deficiencies as it does obsessing about the Mail, it would be a much more readable paper. Why, it might even make a profit."


Michael Wolff on the Hollywood Reporter: "The media turned itself into the opposition and, accordingly, was voted down as the new political reality emerged: Ads don’t work, polls don’t work, celebrities don’t work, media endorsements don’t work, ground games don’t work. Not only did the media get almost everything about this presidential election wrong, but the media became the central issue, or the stand-in for all those issues, that the great new American Trump Party voted against... And it was a failure of modern journalist technique too. It was the day the data died. All of the money poured by a financially challenged media industry into polls and polling analysis was for naught. It profoundly misinformed. It created a compelling and powerful narrative that was the opposite of what was actually happening."

Margaret Sullivan in the Washington Post: "One thing is certain in the presumptive era of President Trump. Journalists are going to have to be better — stronger, more courageous, stiffer-spined — than they’ve ever been. Donald Trump made hatred of the media the centerpiece of his campaign. Journalists were just cogs in a corporate machine, part of the rigged system. If many Americans distrusted us in the past, now they came to actively hate us."




Piers Morgan on MailOnline: " ‘The new President-elect of the United States of America is Donald J. Trump.’ Those, I can say with some certainty, were the words that only Donald himself and me ever thought he might eventually be saying when he first announced he was running last year to global mockery and scorn."

Piers Morgan ‏@piersmorgan on Twitter: "I might have to run for British Prime Minister now so we can properly restore the Special Relationship. #PresidentTrump"


Nick Cohen ‏@NickCohen4 on Twitter: "After Trump, there needs to be a serious discussion about whether journalists should use opinion polls when we have no idea if they are false."


Archant content chief content officer Matt Kelly, quoted by Press Gazette: “What I am proposing for Archant is not a digital-first strategy. Nor is it a mobile first or a social first or whatever the next buzzword-strategy-du-jour may be. Our strategy to be more relevant than ever before is not dependent on platform. Our strategy begins and ends with our audience. That’s why we describe our approach, quite simply, as audience-first.”

Andy Smith, NUJ national executive member, in a statement: “We are extremely concerned by the news of the proposed job losses at Archant. The union has yet to meet Archant management formally to discuss the proposals, but the there is little in the reported statements from Jeff Henry, chief executive, or Matt Kelly, chief content officer,to indicate how moving to an ‘audience first’ approach can justify the loss of at least 17 jobs."


The Sun in a leader"WE don’t envy Theresa May having to sort out the dog’s dinner on press regulation her predecessor left. David Cameron’s foolish inquiry cost taxpayers almost £50 million and barely touched on news provided by internet giants Facebook and Google. Worst of all it created a condition under which a publication that rejects state intrusion would be forced to pay the entire legal costs of anyone who sues them, whether they win or lose. This perversion of justice would spell doom for struggling local newspapers and kill investigative journalism."

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