he union is to review the ways in which it communicates with its membership and “undertake a strategic communications review to decide how best to deploy available resources to promote the NUJ, its work and its achievements within and beyond the union”. Delegates voted for the motion following a debate about the coverage of union matters by The Journalist, which is edited by an elected editor who has editorial independence, in line with the NUJ’s position on editors having independence from their owners. Speakers ranged from those who approved of the content of the magazine to those who said that it ignored key union issues. Simon Chapman, chair of the Journalist
Editorial Advisory Board (pictured), said the editor of The Journalist had been fairly recently elected “with a very convincing majority and I think delegates should reflect on this” and that they needed to “bear in mind the views of the membership”. Gerry Curran, chair of the Irish Executive Council, told the conference that The Journalist didn’t carry enough Irish news and that it had not covered a conference of the International Federation of Journalists in Dublin. Mark Whitehead, of the PR and
Communications branch which submitted the motion calling for the communications review, said: “The time has clearly come when we
Union communications to be reviewed T
want our leadership to take a cool, analytical look at what The Journalist and the other channels of communication are doing.” David Ayrton, deputy FoC of the NUJ’s officials’ chapel, told delegates that any recommended changes to employment resulting from the review would need to be subject to consultation and negotiation. Paul Breedon, of Bristol branch, told delegates: “Whether you like the result [of the editor’s election] or not, the membership have spoken”. Another motion calling for an end to electing the editor and making the role an appointed one was defeated. The editorial independence of the editor was also enshrined in the union’s rules. Additionally, delegates voted to fund an app for the magazine.
“ ” WHITTINGDALE IS URGED TO RESIGN M A
ichelle Stanistreet began a new term as NUJ general secretary by calling for John Whittingdale, Culture Secretary, to resign. She said:
“It’s not his sex life, but that he has compromised his position and integrity by allowing his privacy to be shielded by the newspaper owners who have
been leaning on him throughout this time, in order that he deliver on press regulation and on the emasculation of the BBC.
“The reality is that in not coming clean to parliament about a clear conflict of interest, Whittingdale compromised his own position. He’s taken decisions of vital interest where
his knowledge of the dirt that Paul Dacre has had on him cannot but have had an impact.
“We cannot be expected to believe that the sweets he’s served up to the industry on press regulation and the BBC are but a coincidental meeting of minds. He should resign and he should resign right now.”
Honours for Anna, Dave, John and Jim
nna Wagstaff, a stalwart of the NUJ’s Oxford branch, Jim Boumelha, president of the International Federation of Journalists; Dave Rotchelle, a freelance photographer and campaigner for freelance rights and John
Horgan, who spent a distinguished career on the Irish Times and then became Ireland’s press ombudsman, were all honoured by the union with Member of Honour awards. They were presented with the awards by Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary; Seamus Dooley, assistant general secretary; John Toner, freelance organiser; and Bill MacKeith of Oxford branch.
news conference in brief...
GOODMAN POINTS TO INDUSTRY THREATS Good journalism faces two threats – economic and technological change, the new chair of the NUJ’s parliamentary group told delegates. Helen Goodman MP said that local newspapers continue to close and now ad blocking and the new net giants threaten the business models of national newspapers as they evolve digitally.
The editorial independence of the editor was also enshrined in the union’s rules
CORBYN PROMISES TRADE UNION HELP Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour Party leader and former chair of the NUJ parliamentary group, sent a message to the conference promising that not only will Labour repeal the Trade Union Bill but that the party will extend people’s rights in the workplace – with new trade union freedoms and collective bargaining rights .
MORE EFFORTS TO ACHIEVE DIVERSITY Motions at the conference pledged that the union would work to achieve more diversity in the media in terms of ethnicity, gender and age. Delegates heard that the 2013 NCTJ Journalist at Work report showed that 94 per cent of all UK journalists are white while a Department of Culture, Media and Sport report revealed that fewer than nine per cent people working in the sector were from the Black and Ethnic Minority community.
CHARITY GETS CONFERENCE BOOST NUJ Extra, the union’s charity that helps members in need got a £750 boost from a raffle at the delegate meeting and pledges of regular donations from branches.
PHOTOGRAPHERS’ INCOME TAKES HIT Freelance photographers can earn as little as £15,000 a year because their work is being eroded by reader submissions, agency photographs and the reduction of staff posistions. John Jones from East Yorkshire urged the Fire Brigades Union to deter firefighters from posting pictures of incidents on social media.
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