Media Quotes of the Week: From journalists were attacked and abused by racist England football fans to training on the Oxford Mail was my university

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet in a statement: “The level of abuse and violence our members have experienced while reporting on matches and fans viewing the games is shocking. Our members have told us about having missiles thrown at them, threats of violence and insults while lawfully doing their jobs. They have also witnessed disgusting racist behaviour from the so-called fans...We will reporting these incidents to the UEFA inquiry and raising them with the police.”

• The NUJ quotes a videographer who reported being threatened by a knife from an England supporter: “The amount of racism I witnessed was equal to any far right protest I have ever covered in my 16-year career as a video journalist, not just against black English players, but also against Scottish, German and Italian fans. Often the opposing fans were chased off by England fans under the threat of violence if they stayed. I personally faced nothing but welcome from the opposing fans, not one case of abuse or threat.”

The Times [£] reports: "Ministers will tell technology giants to immediately hand over details of the racists who abused England players so the government can 'make examples' of the perpetrators. Comments posted on the footballers’ social media pages after they lost to Italy in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday have intensified frustration with the companies’ failure to stamp out abuse. Ministers believe social media platforms need to provide information in a more timely fashion to help the authorities crack down on the problem."

• Peter Barron on Twitter: "As a newspaper editor, I refused to publish anonymous letters unless there was a valid reason. Those making a point or criticising others had to do so with the courage to be named. The same principle should apply in social media so cowards can’t hide."

BBC News reports: "Four Iranian intelligence officials have been charged with plotting to kidnap a New York-based journalist critical of Iran, US prosecutors say. The indictment did not name the target, but Masih Alinejad (pictured), an Iranian-American author and activist, says it was her.  The conspirators, who all live in Iran and remain at large, also allegedly plotted to lure a person in the UK and three others in Canada to Iran."

Nick Davies on Press Gazette on the decade since the closure of the News of the World in the wake of the phone hacking scandal he exposed in the Guardian: "Nothing important has changed. I suspect it’s true that criminality committed by Fleet Street newspapers has fallen to zero, or near zero. But what we didn’t achieve was the creation of a decent press regulator. The most important thing about a decent press regulator is that publishers would be required to abide by its first clause, for members to correct anything false and misleading they published. If that had been in place we wouldn’t have left the European Union.Public debate continues to be polluted by false and misleading information. Some titles at the dark end of Fleet Street remain a distortion of what journalism should be.”

The Financial Times reports: "BBC News is facing a test of its independence after an intervention by a BBC board member with close ties to Downing Street stalled a senior editorial appointment on political grounds.  Sir Robbie Gibb, communications director to Theresa May when she was prime minister, tried to block the preferred candidate to oversee the BBC’s news channels because the appointment would shatter relations with the government, said people with knowledge of the recruitment process.  Gibb, who became a non-executive director of the BBC in April, issued his warning to the news division’s managers after Jess Brammar, former editor of HuffPost UK and deputy editor of BBC Newsnight, emerged as the favoured candidate in the recruitment process. Gibb, a former BBC journalist, told BBC director for news and current affairs Fran Unsworth in a text message that she “cannot make this appointment”, said people privy to the communication. He added the government’s “fragile trust in the BBC will be shattered” if she went ahead." 

• Huff Post's Paul Waugh on Twitter: "This is truly extraordinary. How can a non-exec director of the BBC interfere in a recruitment process? Especially when the only crime of the journalist involved, @jessbrammar, is standing up for her reporters' right to ask questions of the government?"

• Media Guido on Twitter: "Government source: 'Brammar has been running a borderline fake news lefty clickbait website for years. Remarkable that someone like this would even enter consideration'."

Press Gazette after prison officer Robert Norman (pictured), whose identity as a confidential source was given to police by Trinity Mirror (now Reach), lost an appeal against his conviction at the European Court of Human Rights: "The news closes the book on a dark chapter for UK journalism and underlines that reporters should trust no-one, especially their employer, when it comes to the protection of sources. Never put anything in a work email that you would not be happy to be read out in court or handed over to the UK state."

Statement on the second anniversary of the Global Conference for Media Freedom: "We acknowledge the impact of the pandemic on media freedom, in particular that this crisis has been used to put in place undue restrictions on free and independent media...We condemn intimidation, harassment and violence against journalists. We commend the crucial role played by journalists and media workers and pay tribute to those who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession."

Sahara Reporters on press freedom fight in Nigeria:"The Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO) has resolved to resist the government's attempt to stifle the media’s constitutional freedom of speech in Nigeria, even as it set July 12, 2021 to stage a Front Page protest by publishing a uniform artwork in all the newspapers. Publishers say the new laws confers on the Press Council the power to determine ethics and fake news, investigate infractions and impose fines on journalists, publishers and distributors. It proposes fines of up to N.25 million on the journalist, and N5 million on a corporate body. It specifies jail terms of one to three years and fines ranging from N.25 million to N5 million on journalists, news agents and media outlets."

Darren Styles, managing director of Stream, who has signed a deal to produce a UK edition of Rolling Stone magazine, as quoted by Press Gazette: “The arrival of Rolling Stone in the UK is not only a hugely exciting development for our brilliant team, but also fantastic news for the UK music and entertainment industries which deserve the showcase and platform that this iconic brand will deliver. A Rolling Stone cover is the picture worth 10,000 words, and UK artists will now have opportunities of their own to achieve just that, as well access to the RS network that stretches well beyond its native USA to Australia, China and more than a dozen other countries.”

Jim Rosenthal in the Sunday Times [£]: "Everyone goes on about Oxford University as a place of academic prowess, but the Oxford Mail was my university. The four years of training was priceless. I used the principles I picked up there every day of my working life."

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