Friday 28 October 2011

Media Quotes of the Week: From Jeremy Clarkson on lifting injunctions to the truth about PRs

Jeremy Clarkson tells the Sun why he lifted an injunction on his ex-wife: "Injunctions don't work, they are pointless. If you have one, everyone on Twitter and the internet knows you've got it. But because I am bound by the same order, I can't speak about it or defend myself. There is an assumption that I am guilty because I can't say anything. My wife and I decided to let it go. My ex-wife is now free to tell her story and people can either believe it or not, it's up to them."

Conrad Black on Rupert Murdoch on the Huffington Post:
"In earlier times, whenever there had been anything even slightly unfavorable about him in any of our publications, he had called me to object, or had his British managing director call my co-chief executive at the Telegraph."

Stephen Glover in the Independent: "Lord Judge, the Lord Chief Justice, made a magnificent speech last week about press freedom. It can be found very easily online, and I urge you to read it. These were no inconsequential musings from the most senior member of our judiciary. Delivered in clear, beautiful English, what he said amounted to the most powerful and moving defence of a free press that I have heard from a living person, and it is wondrous that such words should have fallen from the lips of a judge. I believe that its effect will be to reduce the likelihood of statutory regulation of newspapers almost to zero."

George Monbiot in the Guardian on advertising: "I detest this poison, but I also recognise that I am becoming more dependent on it. As sales of print editions decline, newspapers lean even more heavily on advertising. Nor is the problem confined to the commercial media. Even those who write only for their own websites rely on search engines, platforms and programs ultimately funded by advertising. We're hooked on a drug that is destroying society. As with all addictions, the first step is to admit to it."

Roy Greenslade on James Murdoch in the London Evening Standard: "The problem is that hacking is not going to go away. The police investigation has a long way yet to run. There are up to 60 outstanding civil actions. MPs are not going to let the matter drop either.At every turn, the name of James Murdoch will continue to feature in headlines. He cannot run and he cannot hide. His game is well and truly up."

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary to a journalist after apparently contradicting the airline's head of comms Stephen McNamara, as reported in Private Eye:
"Stephen's just a PR. He'll lie to you. I'll tell the truth."

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