Former national newspaper editor Brian Hitchen has lashed out over the state of modern journalism.
He is quoted by Press Gazette as saying too many journalists "are the product of half-baked courses"... "haven't a clue what a good story is"... and are "battery hens sipping Evian water and eating half-frozen sandwiches from the vending machine".
He was also scathing about phone-hacking by the News of the World.
But Hitchen, editor of the Daily Star for seven years from 1987 and then the Sunday Express, is a great fan of The Independent's spin-off, i.
And he also praises the Daily Mail's editor Paul Dacre who "knows instinctively what his readers want" and "stands out way ahead of the rest."
Hitchen, who has given an interview to PG's monthly magazine, said:
"Everything is about celebrities... who cares? Some newspapers don't. I am delighted every morning when I read the i – it is superb.
Everything you want to read is in there and you see so many of the more intelligent young people reading it."
He said he was appalled by the the phone-hacking scandal, arguing that "the people who did it were prompted by ambition, greed and lack of experience."
He continued: "They have jeopardised the freedom of the press. Their crass stupidity has handed the keys to those wanting to shackle the press."
But Hitchen, a founding member of the Press Complaints Commission, did not think the press watchdog "should be scrapped entirely".
He added: "I wouldn't throw out the whole system, and I would keep the PCC secretariat – they do a terrific job."
Source: Press Gazette The full interview is published in the May issue
