View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Archive content
September 1, 2005updated 22 Nov 2022 4:40pm

Quotes

By Press Gazette

Greg Dyke

The former director general of the BBC said: “It wasn’t a great MacTaggart for journalists.

There wasn’t really a top line, but lectures aren’t for making
headlines. I really enjoyed it, even the personal history of a life in
television.

It looked at the problems we face but where were the
answers? John didn’t give us any. Perhaps that’s because the answers
aren’t here yet.”

John McCarthy

“A time delay in live news is very important. It is fundamental to
know what you are broadcasting and to be able to stop. It is not the
same as a package and you have to be able to respect those being
traumatised.”

Peter Fincham

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

The controller of BBC One examined the 1977 schedules. “In that week
there were 130 minutes of national news in peak time. The comparable
figure for this week is 335 minutes. As well as news, current affairs
occupies a secure place in our peak time schedule.

Only a few weeks ago a Panorama special, Undercover Nurse, played to
an audience of nearly 5m, giving lie to the idea that either current
affairs is marginalised or that it can’t, when covering the right
subjects in an innovative way, appeal to a mass audience.”

John Ryley

The executive editor of Sky News, talking about live coverage of
disasters, said: “We didn’t use a delay during the storm of the school
in the Beslan siege and we were too tight on people’s faces. We thought
we were right, you make these decisions under pressure. We’re human
beings.”

David Mannion

The editor-in-chief of ITV News, on gratuitously violent footage,
said: “You shouldn’t show this material for a second more than you need
to. There is no rule book for these situations, each one is different.
It is an imperfect science.”

Adam Curtis

The man who made The Power of Nightmares remarked: “Getting a film
crew to film my documentaries would be like asking a sub editor to
write stories for you.”

Germaine Greer

“Some people have had to become obsessed with their vagina in order
to get on television. They’re using their fanny to get on TV because
they know their face won’t do it.”

Jade Goody

The former Big Brother contestant asked Jane Lush, BBC One’s
controller of commissioning entertainment: “Do you make Challenge
Anneka? I’d like to present that.”

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network