Friday 5 August 2011

Quotes of the Week: Nick Davies on Rupert Murdoch and Guido Fawkes on Piers Morgan

Nick Davies interviewed by the Media Matters for America website on the impact of Rupert Murdoch on journalism in the UK: "Rupert Murdoch has made Britain a more racist, more sexist and more stupid place. Because of what he did to the Sun, and what the Sun did to other newspapers."

Nick Davies on Media Matters about phone hacking: "News International has been rather unlucky because they're the ones who got caught. But lots of other newspapers on Fleet Street have been doing the same thing. But the story has become about the Murdochs because Rupert Murdoch is so peculiarly powerful. I think you could put a reasonable case together for saying he's the most powerful man in the world."

Toby Young on telegraph.co.uk on the war of words between Piers Morgan and Guido Fawkes (aka Paul Staines) over phone hacking: "His [Morgan's] biggest mistake so far has been in underestimating Staines, whom he dismissed on Twitter as a 'druggie ex-bankrupt'. Staines is, in fact, a shrewd media operator who has already claimed several political scalps. When it comes to the way in which the tit-for-tat rhythm of claim and counter-claim plays out in the frenzied, Internet-driven, 24-hour news cycle, the 'druggie ex-bankrupt' is something of a master. He hasn’t yet taken down anyone as big as Morgan, but the ex-tabloid editor is going to have to tread much more carefully from now on if he’s going to avoid being another trophy on Staines’s hunting wall."

Paul Staines in an ADWEEK interview claims he
has no personal animus toward Piers Morgan: "No, I think he adds to the gaiety of the world immensely. He’s making out that I’m some kind of publicity seeking—what did he say? I’m an ex-bankrupt druggie? Basically what I’m saying is, causing him hassle doesn’t pay our bills in any way what so ever. We’re actually doing it to widen out the hacking issue beyond News International. We’re using him as the poster boy to express it."

Andrew Miller, chief executive officer of the Guardian Media Group in the company's 2011 Annual Review: “The year under review was one of huge journalistic success. The Guardian achieved record audiences, it was named Newspaper of the Year at the British Press Awards, the partnership with Wikileaks produced one of the greatest scoops in living memory, and the shockwaves triggered by the dogged pursuit of the phone-hacking scandal will be felt for generations to come. However, the entire media industry faces serious challenges. The Guardian has been at the forefront of innovation in our sector, but the task of reflecting editorial and brand success in a sustainable financial model for the digital age is a demanding one."

Ros Coward on the Guardian's Comment is Free on Liz Jones being sent to Somalia to cover the famine: "Maybe the Mail on Sunday is labouring under the mistaken belief that Jones's huge following is based on liking her as a person, which would induce a willingness to read about difficult subjects. But they should do some qualitative research. Jones may have a large readership but many read her in a state of disbelief that anyone could be so self-deluded, so self-indulgent and so utterly unsatisfied at the same time. The 'me, me, me' attitude that pops up in each article means no matter what subject she's covering, it will only ever be a backdrop."

Tom Watson MP in a Guardian interview on phone hacking: "I think we're probably only about halfway through the number of revelations. I'm pretty certain there will be quite detailed stuff on other uses of covert surveillance. I suspect that emails will be the next scandal. And devices that track people moving around. That's just starting to come out."

David Holt of Solent News after the freelance agency received a pay out from PA over the lifting of an interview with the father of a murder victim: "This was never about money. It was about journalistic practice and, to some extent, the future of journalism, particularly on the internet. Our work seems to have been blithely copied and pasted by someone sat at a computer miles away from the subject of the story, in this case grieving relatives, and put out for consumption, apparently without a second thought."

Guardian profile of the News of the World's former managing editor Stuart Kuttner: "Kuttner was rarely without his white handkerchief, into which he periodically buried his face and emitted enormous sneezes. His other trademark was his high-waisted black trousers."

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