Thursday 3 May 2018

Media Quotes of the Week: Rudd resignation shows power of investigative journalism; Cambridge Analytica closure; the deadliest day for the media in Afghanistan



Guardian editor-in-chief KathViner in the Guardian: "The resignation of the British home secretary, Amber Rudd, over the Windrush scandal marks an important moment for independent, investigative journalism, demonstrating how it can hold power to account in order unequivocally to change people’s lives for the better. The Guardian reporter Amelia Gentleman has spent the past six months exposing the truth of the suffering of the Windrush generation, who arrived in the UK after the second world war from Caribbean countries at the invitation of the British government."


Cambridge Analytica in a press statement: "The siege of media coverage has driven away virtually all of the Company’s customers and suppliers. As a result, it has been determined that it is no longer viable to continue operating the business, which left Cambridge Analytica with no realistic alternative to placing the Company into administration."

Carole Cadwalladr@carolecadwalla on Twitter: "Remember. SCL & Cambridge Analytica are disinformation specialists. What exactly are they shutting down & why?...The news that Cambridge Analytica is shutting down is not some great triumph. It’s a billionaire using Britain’s insolvency laws to try & evade scrutiny - at the cost of his employees. We need a criminal investigation. And we need evidence secured. The question is how???"

Verified account


John Mulholland@jnmulholland on Twitter: "Cambridge Analytica closing after Facebook data harvesting scandal revealed by @carolecadwalla in the Observer - and not because of 'siege of media coverage' as per their statement."


Facebook's CTO Mike Schroepfer, asked to apologise for the company threatening defamation proceedings against the Guardian and Observer over the data scandal, while appearing before the Culture and Media Committee"We thought this was accepted cultural practice in the UK...I am sorry that journalists feel that we are trying to prevent them from getting the truth out."


Jane Martinson in the Guardian: "It really shouldn’t matter where, or how, somebody grew up – Jon Snow is just one example of a brilliant journalist who grew up in a privileged household. But the media industry needs to look outside the white male able-bodied elite to others who want to speak truth to power. Without that, it could so easily become an industry just speaking to itself."


Ashley Highfield on his decision to resign as chief executive of Johnston Press, as reported by City AM: "I have been privileged to lead Johnston Press during a period of unprecedented turbulence in our industry. Since 2011 we have grown our overall audience in particular our digital business, created an industry leading tele-sales operation and maintained margins. The acquisition of the i newspaper has been a particular highlight."


Jeremy Vine @theJeremyVine on Twitter: "Excellent piece by @guyadams raises the horrible thought that money given to Save The Children by a little old lady somewhere has ended up being spent on getting lawyers to put the wind up journalists who reported on their sex scandal."


Independent Press Standards Organisation in a statement: "The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) has announced it is creating a compulsory version of its low cost arbitration scheme. This change will mean that someone who has a genuine claim against a newspaper who could have gone to court (for example for libel, invasion of privacy, data protection or harassment) can ask for arbitration of their claim and the newspaper cannot refuse. It costs a maximum of £100 for the claimant. Under the current scheme, the newspaper could decide not to arbitrate on any given case. The new scheme will also include a higher level of damages: arbitrators can award claimants up to £60,000, including aggravated damages."


The Times [£] in a leader: "The sentencing of 14 journalists from one of Turkey’s oldest and most respected newspapers to jail terms of up to seven and a half years on terrorism charges is a disgrace. It makes a mockery of even the pretence of the democratic freedoms expected of a Nato ally. It sends a repressive message that opposition to the government will not be tolerated and that Turkey is entering a dark age of absolutism and intolerance."


The Afghanistan Federation of Journalists (AFJ) in a statement after 10 journalists were killed on Monday in a bomb attack and a shooting: “This terrorist attack is a war crime and an organized attack on the Afghan media. Despite today's attack and other threats against journalists, the Afghan media is committed to providing information. The attack in the heart of Kabul and in the Green Zone indicates a serious lack of security by the government...April 30 will be remembered as the deadliest day in Afghan media history and the industry will mark the day in future in honor of its fallen colleagues."

Steven Butler @StevenBButler Asia program coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists, on Twitter: "Today marks one of the deadliest days on record for the media in Afghanistan & indeed around the world. We salute the incredible bravery of these journos, while noting the cynicism & cruelty of a suicide bomber pretending to be a media worker to target the press."

Committee to Protect Journalists executive director Joel Simon, quoted by the Columbia Journalism Review: “These are all Afghan reporters that have been killed, but at least five are working directly for the international media. So theses are the reporters who keep the world informed. This is not a local story; it’s not just about local news coverage in c. This is a threat not just to the Afghan media, this is a threat to global media.”

The Guardian in a leader: "Although the rich world takes notice of those who bring the news out to us, the vast majority are people serving their own communities, working for little glamour and less money, with a display of routine everyday heroism that puts more pampered colleagues to shame. The defence of journalistic freedom, and of journalists’ lives, is not some western affectation. It is something that all societies need if they are to be honest with themselves. It is a necessary check on the ambition and even the vanity of the powerful, and the dangers that some brave journalists defy prove just how much we need it – and them."

[£]=paywall

No comments: