Media Quotes of the Week: From why Russian journalists keep 'little suitcases' to covid coverage ranges from brilliant to 'grandstanding wallies'

Russian journalist, quoted by the Committee to Protect Journalists about local media covering the protests against Putin: "We [local journalists] also have our 'little suitcases' prepared, just like in Stalin’s 1937 [the year of Stalin’s 'great purge', when political dissidents kept suitcases packed in case they were sent to prison or labor camps]. I personally have a small cosmetic bag that I carry with me that contains a toothbrush, a bottle with face wash, and a hairbrush for emergency needs in case of an arrest. But I also have a bigger bag at home with clothes and some books so in case I am placed in detention, I would give the key to my apartment to someone who would bring it to me if I am in jail."

• PEN America says: "Russian authorities are engaged in a disgraceful pressure attack on the free press detaining over the weekend some 80 journalists amid ongoing protests in the country."
• CPJ claims: "During nationwide protests by supporters of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny on January 31, as well as in their immediate run-up, police throughout the country detained, intimidated, or harassed at least 122 journalists, according to news reports and a report by the Professional Union of Journalists and Media Workers."

The New European in a company announcement: "The New European is today under new ownership, following the acquisition of the title from owners Archant by founder Matt Kelly and a consortium of investors including former New York Times CEO Mark Thompson and former FT editor Lionel Barber. Former Independent CEO Gavin O'Reilly becomes executive chairman of the new company, with Kelly assuming the role of chief executive officer and editor-in-chief."

Ian Murray, executive director of the Society of Editors, in a statement on the arrest of freelance photographer Andy Aitchison after covering a protest at a barracks housing asylum seekers in Kent: “This is very concerning. We are constantly told journalists, including press photographers, are an essential part of our democratic system in this country and a free media is to be protected. But words are not enough. It is actions that count and arresting press photographers is not something that should be happening in a liberal democracy.”

• Aitchison has been told he will not be charged and has had his memory card and mobile returned. The NUJ is calling for an investigation into his arrest.

The Mirror reports: "Number 10 has defended a minister who branded a journalist 'creepy and bizarre' for asking a basic question. Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch publicly attacked a reporter, baselessly accusing her of 'sowing distrust' and 'undermining' efforts to increase take-up of Covid-19 vaccines, after she sent an email asking why she didn’t take part in a video campaign. And today Number 10 refused to condemn the minister’s outburst, saying she felt she 'has grounds' to describe basic journalism as 'creepy' - and that she had been 'civil'. HuffPost journalist Nadine White had approached the minister, as well as her press team, to ask for her comment on claims she had refused to take part in the cross-party video. But instead of replying to the question, Ms Badenoch tweeted images of the emailed request for comment, accusing the journalist of trying to 'sow distrus' in the vaccine by 'making up claims'."

Hatice Cengiz, fiancée of journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, interviewed by The Sunday Times Magazine [£]: “Nothing can bring back Jamal. But I’m waiting for the UK and other countries to do something to show these people that you can’t just kill someone like that without there being repercussions...Jamal loved the UK. He used to praise the UK for being the pioneer of freedom of speech.”

Dan Wootton announcing on Twitter he is joining new tv channel GB News: "After seven life-changing years at The Sun and, more recently, talkRADIO, I have made the very tough decision to leave News UK.Later this year, I'm joining the on air team of GB News and MailOnline as a columnist. And I'll still break scoops too, of course!"

Ofcom group director of broadcasting and online content Kevin Backhurst in The Times [£]: "Our rules allow broadcast news channels to explore issues from their own viewpoint as long as they comply with some key principles: news presenters and reporters must not give their views on politically controversial matters (and news channels must report the facts with due accuracy), whereas in non-news programmes presenters and reporters can express their opinions. In all programming, these channels must reflect alternative viewpoints. How they do it is up to them. Freedom of expression is vital to our democracy. "

Former Nottingham Post editor Mike Sassi in a podcast, quoted by Holdthefrontpage, on the loss of local journalists to PR: “There’s been a fundamental change in that there are certainly fewer independent journalists. The people who were junior or trainee reporters and who learned their trade and then would traditionally go and become a crime reporter or a health reporter, and then perhaps a news editor and then an assistant editor, well, once they get to trainee level and then they’re qualified, the money runs out. So therefore to get a salary which allows them to buy a house or move into a decent house with a higher rent, they have to go and move into public relations or to marketing."

The Times [£] on the Leicester-based Bellingcat investigative website: "Social media analysis of the kind Bellingcat has pioneered helped to secure the first conviction for the war crimes of cultural destruction at the International Criminal Court. With China’s Xinjiang province blocked to outsiders, much of what has emerged about the measures against the Uighurs is coming through similar channels. Bellingcat has put dictators and kleptocrats on notice that no corner is too dark to be spied upon."

David Aaronovitch on Twitter: "One of the depressing things about the pandemic is that it has has shown that while some of our fellow journalists are brilliant at finding out and telling the public what they need to know, many others are grandstanding wallies."

 [£]=paywall

Media Quotes of the Week: From in victory and defeat politicians blame media to Guardian praises local newspapers - what a shame it sold them off

Jeremy Corbyn, as reported by Press Gazette: "The pressure on those surrounding politicians is often very, very high indeed. The media intrusion on people’s lives is very high indeed. And the attacks that take place against family and loved ones of politicians continue and they are disgraceful and frankly they are disgusting…I want to thank my three sons for the huge support they give me and thank my wife Laura Alvarez for all that she puts up [with] because of the way the media behave towards me, towards her and indeed towards my party during this election campaign.”

Labour shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald on the  BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "We've accepted that the print media are rained against us, but my goodness me. I'm going to look at us. We're the important part here. We got this wrong, but if the BBC are going to hold themselves out as somehow having conducted themselves in an impartial manner, I think they've really got to have a look in the mirror. We've got a lot to say about this."

The Times [£] reports: "Downing Street is squaring up to the BBC, threatening a boycott of Radio 4’s Today and a review of the licence fee as Conservatives fume about the broadcaster’s coverage of the election. The government confirmed yesterday that it had launched a review into decriminalising non-payment of the licence fee as punishment for what the Tories see as pro-Remain bias."

John Humphrys in the Daily Mail: "Johnson and Corbyn have been boycotting Today for a very long time, and I and my colleagues have often 'empty chaired' them. By which I mean we had drawn it to the attention of the listener that they had chosen not to appear. That's our duty. Otherwise the listener might think it was we who were denying them an appearance. As a former Today presenter, I'm saddened and worried that they have been boycotting us — and, we are told, that Johnson's government will continue to do so. I believe the listener is entitled to hold people in power to account. It enables democracy. And answering pre-selected questions on social media is not being held to account."

Huw Edwards on LinkedIn: "In the last week of the campaign, I was simultaneously accused (yeah, by The Sun) of being a Labour supporter, and (on Twitter) of deliberately facilitating a Conservative victory. I have been accused of being a Plaid Cymru voter (this is a difficult notion in London, I have to say) and in one spectacular zinger of a letter a few years ago, a 'vile Welsh neo-con'."

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, in a statement: "Flagrant bullying rhetoric has been targeted at the BBC and Channel 4 during this election campaign, with threats to their futures issued in response to editorial decisions. These have been amplified over the weekend with comments from the government about reviewing the funding of the BBC and decriminalisation of the licence fee. Let’s be clear – knee-jerk changes to the licence fee would massively damage BBC programmes and news. The corporation is already facing serious cuts in the coming year, with potentially more on the horizon. It needs greater resources, not an attempt to destabilise its very existence. The NUJ salutes the hard work and professionalism of its members who covered one of the most divisive and difficult of election campaigns.”

Editor Mike Sassi announces his departure from the Nottingham Evening Post 

Richard Woodward on Twitter: "There are many issues for regional papers, but one which I’ve not seen talked about often is the loss of experience. So many editors like Mike have left recently. Hopefully he will stay in journalism, but many others haven’t. Papers need that wealth of knowledge."

Kenan Malik in the Guardian: "The obsession with social media has led many to neglect another part of the media ecosystem that is also of vital importance – local newspapers. In the age of global communication, it is easy to condescend to local papers as quaint and old-fashioned. Yet they play a vital role in sustaining both journalism and democracy. It was the Yorkshire Evening Post that broke the story about Jack Williment-Barr and subsequently played a major role in responding to the attempts to dismiss it as fake news. Some of the best investigative journalism these days emerges from local papers – for instance, in the work of the Manchester Evening News’ Jennifer Williams."

Emily Bell in the Guardian: "One of the very few heroes of the UK election campaign is James Mitchinson, editor of the Yorkshire Post. Mitchinson’s email to a reader who would not believe a (true) story about a sick child left to wait on the floor of a Leeds hospital is a model of both public service journalism and how to debunk a lie."

Manchester Evening News politics and investigations editor Jennifer Williams on Twitter:  "Another ode in the Guardian to local news while failing to mention the virtual silence that accompanied the flogging off of its local titles at the time. I’m being very restrained here."

Alan Rusbridger in the Guardian: After the Yorkshire Evening Post‘s reporting of the Leeds story was questioned, its editor in chief, James Mitchinson, wrote a long and considered reply to a reader who, on the basis of something she read on social media, thought the story was fake. Mitchinson’s reply courteously asks the reader why she would believe the word of a total stranger (who might not even exist) over a newspaper she had read for many years in good faith. The fact the paper knew the story to be true was, said Mitchinson, down to “bog-standard journalism”. It was a powerful statement of why good journalism – independent and decently crafted – should matter. So let’s hear it for bog-standard journalism. There’s too little of it. It may not be enough, but it’s all we have."

Manchester Evening News politics and investigations editor Jennifer Williams on Twitter:   "Alan Rusbridger was editor of the Guardian when the Guardian sold its regional press. As it turns out, the Manchester Evening News is doing pretty well these days, so I’m not complaining. But his homage to the local press is still a decade after the fact."

[£]=paywall

Media Quotes of the Week: From freethepress campaign says Bah Humbug! to Section 40 to is Impress the press regulator that hates the press?

Freethepress campaign urges readers: "Say NO to section 40 and Leveson Part 2. Press freedom, the lifeblood of democracy, is under attack. But you can do something about it. The British government has opened up a public consultation on the next stage of the Leveson Inquiry. It is asking us two questions. Should the government implement Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013? And should the government go ahead with Part 2 of the Leveson Inquiry?We say an emphatic NO to both of these questions. And we think you should make your voice heard too."

David Aaronovitch in The Times [£]:  "In addition to being a hack I’ve chaired the freedom of expression organisation Index on Censorship for nearly four years. In that time I’ve seen the variety of ways and the ingenuity of arguments that people use when looking to constrain or limit free speech. It never stops and it’s by no means mainly autocrats who seek to do it. There’s always a good and urgent reason, but to me it’s evident that freedom of speech and expression is the one freedom that underpins all the others."

Max Mosley in a letter to The Times [£]: "As David Aaronovitch points out, the rich often force newspapers to suppress stories that should be published. A newspaper can be hundreds of thousands of pounds out of pocket even if it wins a major law suit. That is precisely the problem that Leveson has solved. When section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act comes into force, a newspaper can respond to threatened litigation by offering inexpensive arbitration. If this is refused, the court can order the aggressor to pay the costs of both sides. This new law strongly reinforces press freedom and should be commenced without delay."

Gavin Millar, QC, in a letter to The Times [£]: "Huge costs in court cases against newspapers are problematic, but section 40 (2) of the Crime and Courts Act would not solve the problem, as Max Mosley suggests (letter, Dec 16). True, it dangles a “carrot”. Newspapers may not have to pay costs even when they lose the case, but they have to join a state-approved regulator to bite at the carrot. This is currently Impress, funded by Mr Mosley. Valuing their independence, newspapers understandably refuse to do this. In fact, section 40 (3) would create, not solve, a problem. Costs could be awarded against our “refusenik” newspapers even when they win. This is the “stick” in section 40. Drastic state penalties of this sort are incompatible with free speech. They inhibit investigative journalism and allegations of misconduct against powerful people who might sue.
Section 40 is dangerous humbug. Like Old Marley it must be pronounced “dead as a doornail” after this Christmas consultation."

Rachael Jolley, editor, Index on Censorship magazine, in a letter to The Times [£]: "Index on Censorship has published stories by censored writers for more than four decades. Now we ourselves face the prospect of censorship via legal action in the UK. As it stands, legislation on the statute means that we — as an independent publisher that declines to join the press regulator Impress — face the prospect of crippling legal costs, even if we won a case that had been brought against us. Our publication, to which last month the British Society of Magazine Editors gave an “editor of the year” award for its work, could be forced out of business. Any regulation that could potentially bankrupt the media and make investigative journalism too costly to publish should be fiercely resisted."

Lord Lester of Herne Hill, QC, in a letter to The Times [£]: "IPSO is supported by most of the press and uses its formidable new powers effectively. When the public consultation ends next month, the culture secretary should not invoke section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act. If Hacked Off brings a legal challenge, I predict that the courts will rule that section 40 is arbitrary, unfair and incompatible with a free press."

Brendan O'Neill, editor of Spiked: "The recommendations of the Leveson Inquiry include the Press Recognition Panel’s use of extreme financial pressure to make all press outlets sign up to a new press regulator, and the suggestion that even third parties — that is, people not directly affected by an offensive press article — could be allowed to complain about it. The idea, now too widely accepted, is that the press must be tamed and the easily offended empowered. The opposite is the case. We should ignore, or challenge, professional offence-takers, and give the press greater freedom and independence and power over itself and its output."

The Sun in a leader: "Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act would be the instant death of investigative journalism. Newspapers could no longer afford to expose scandals in the public interest and provably true. The only safety would be under a new industry regulator, Impress — a dubious outfit bankrolled by Max Mosley, a tycoon with a vendetta against the Press."

Jeremy Clarkson in The Sun: "Newspapers, and the people who produce them and write them and own them, are a constant thorn in my side, an unending headache, and I sometimes lay awake at night wondering what the editor of the Daily Mail would look like without a head. So you’d expect me to be whooping for joy at the news that over the Christmas break, while you’re making merry with the party poppers and the crackers, various shadowy Government people are drawing up plans to bring the nation’s newspapers to heel. But I’m not. I’m horrified to the point of panicky breathlessness. And you should be too."

Nottingham Post editor Mike Sassi, quoted by Press Gazette: "Like all local newspapers, The Nottingham Post receives dozens of complaints every year. The vast majority are dealt with amicably, often by us explaining to complainants how and why something has been reported. A small number are resolved with a swift clarification and, if necessary, an apology. However, if Section 40 were to become law, complainants would have a huge financial incentive to pursue us, knowing that even if they lose we have to pay their costs. The number of complaints would inevitably increase."

David Higgerson on his blog: "IMPRESS, in my opinion, has demeaned and belittled journalism in its quest to force others to make life so difficult for the Press that they have no choice but to sign up. In doing so, it has alienated the vast majority of journalist for whom facts are everything, and getting something wrong is something they try to avoid at all costs."

MediaGuido on press regulator Impress: "MediaGuido has found that four senior Impress employees have endorsed loopy comparisons between the Daily Mail and the Nazis. Impress CEO Jonathan Heawood has shared multiple social media posts calling the Mail “fascists”, “a neo-fascist rag”, and a claim that it is “increasingly adopting fascist style politics”. Another post shared by Heawood compares the Mail to a newspaper from Nazi Germany... How can a press regulator reasonably regulate an industry if it wants to ban newspapers? How can they come to fair and balanced judgments if its CEO believes they are “neo-fascists”? Impress is the press regulator that hates the press, it is a farce that the government is giving these people the time of day…"

Stephen Glover in the Daily Mail: "It seems to me utterly incredible that a group of individuals who don’t bother to disguise their hatred for some newspapers should be the leading lights of a State-approved body which is supposed to regulate the free Press — and that the same organisation should be funded by a man like Mosley. Are we dreaming? Can this really be happening? If politicians really do want State control of the Press, you’d think they might come up with a few respectable members of the great‑and-the-good rather than this immature and undistinguished shower who garrulously tweet their illiberal prejudices."

• My Media Quotes of the Year are on InPublishing here

[£]=paywall