Obituary
 Harry Arnold with Lady Diana Spencer in 1980, months before her engagement to the Prince of Wales
Harry Arnold
The doyen of royal reporters Harry Arnold has died of cancer aged 73. Arnold and the photographer Arthur Edwards were the first to identify Lady Diana Spencer as Prince Charles's potential bride. They were also the first to interview Roddy Llewellyn about his relationship with Princess Margaret. Arnold went on to write the controversial Sun report of allegations about Liverpool fans' behaviour at Hillsborough in 1989. He later told the BBC that he was aghast when he saw the front-page headline "The truth" and protested. "I said to Kelvin MacKenzie, 'You can't say that'. And he said 'Why not?' and I said, 'because we don't know that it's the truth. This is a version of 'the truth'. "He brushed it aside and said, 'Oh don't worry. I'm going to make it clear that this is what some people are saying'. And I walked away thinking, well I'm not happy with the situation. But the fact is reporters don't argue with an editor. And, in particular, you don't argue with an editor like Kelvin MacKenzie." Arnold, who had been at the Sun since 1976, left for the Mirror the following year. See the Mirror's obituary here. Listen to Arnold in the BBC's Reunion programme here. 
Robin Williams and suicide reporting
Within minutes of the announcement of the death of Robin Williams people started tweeting "beware how you report this". The tweets continued all the time that papers were being prepared. The mental health charity Mind issued two briefings for editors. The Samaritans' guidance on the reporting of suicide could not have been more accessible. They were just whistling in the wind. 
Farewell to Harry Chapman Pincher, flawed hero of journalism
Every business has its legends, the names that conjure up a forgotten era, inspire anecdote and vitriol, admiration and distaste. For a wannabe journalist learning the trade in the Seventies, John Pilger of the Mirror was the campaigning hero, the greatest reporter of all time, the righter of wrongs. James Cameron was the man who knew the world. Arthur Christiansen was the supreme editor. And Chapman Pincher was the man who knew all the Government's secrets. 
Rik Mayall and the problem with death
The British are not very good at death. We don't like to talk about it, we don't like to prepare for it, and we don't know what to say when confronted with it. Obituary editors deal with it all the time and so are an exception; news folk have learnt how to report it on the battlefield, but few have found the right formula for when someone moderately important or famous dies. Actors are muddled with their characters and comedy stars are seen off with their catchphrases. 
Tony Benn: why we shouldn't speak ill of the dead
Bob Crow waited two days to declare that he would not shed a single tear over the death of Margaret Thatcher and that he hoped she'd rot in hell. Many were much quicker off the mark: Twitter and Facebook were full of joyful messages and there was real dancing in the street. When Crow died on Wednesday, even the rightwing papers that loathed him managed to find something to say that wasn't too rude. But they didn't manage to hold their noses for long. 
Nelson Mandela ... the making of a modern front page
Practically everyone picking up a morning paper will have known that Mandela died. Yet that was the one fact that most editors chose to impart on their front pages - whether in stark words or by the tone of the presentation. There was no attempt to capitalise here on the advantages that newsprint still has over the internet and broadcasters, such as extra details and good writing. And quite right. Every instinct says that the occasion demanded one bold statement of respect. 
June 23: Felix Dennis the publisher and co-editor of Oz magazine has died aged 67. He was jailed along with Richard Neville and Jim Anderson in 1971 after a "schoolkids edition" was found guilty of conspircy to corrupt public morals, but the convictions were overturned on appeal. He went on to build a publishing empire whose titles included Viz, Women's Fitness and Bizarre.
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