YourSay... ç inviting letters, comments, tweets


Don’t give up – you can win on bylines


I am a recent NUJ membership returnee so it was not only nice to receive my print copy in the post but it was also heartening to read Caroline Thain’s vivid piece on byline banditry. Speaking from personal experience, I’ve had to deal with


my fair share of copy thievery. I am a freelance journalist and pitch original stories to a range of publications. I was particularly peeved when one article that I


successfully got published on an online platform was swiped by another and my byline swapped for the in-house journalist’s. It annoyed me because the person I had interviewed had me waiting for hours and I had painstakingly crafted the piece myself after weeks of research. For months, no amount of calling or emailing was doing


the trick to get this problem rectified. I wrote a blog piece – an open letter detailing my complaint and scheduled a daily tweet on Twitter ensuring all the editors were copied in. Within 10 days, I got an emailed reply. The story was


taken down, although their explanation about why this had happened in the first place was unsatisfactory to me. I was also invited to submit a piece credited to me for their publication. My advice to others out there is not


to give up and hit them where it hurts (followers + reputation) and they are likely to respond. Kirsty Abena Serwaa London Freelance Branch


Bylines are an advert to commissioning editors I agree with Caroline Thain’s thoughts on bylines, which I believe are particularly important when you’re a freelance. Yes, it’s a sign of ownership, and every byline is also an advertisement to commissioning editors for what you do. Admittedly, a few years back a


harassed editor left someone else’s name on an article ‘what I had wrote’, and I was somewhat surprised by how little it bothered me. This was partly because I’d been already paid but


22 | theJournalist


mostly because I realised I had an extremely apologetic editor who felt he owed me a favour. Strangely, what really annoys me is when a copy editor gets my byline wrong, most commonly by missing out the initial. I stopped writing for one editor because they consistently ignored my requests and reminders about it; a small thing, perhaps, but it symbolised the breakdown in our working relationship. So I moved on. Paul F Cockburn Edinburgh


£30 prize


letter H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H


Good decision to keep printing The Journalist The delegate meeting’s decision to instruct the NEC to maintain six print editions of The journalist a year is welcome. For the past two decades, many


commentators have been predicting the demise of print media. However, in reality, most of us consume a mixture of print and digital. For example, while a digital news outlet offers ease of access and quick navigation of areas of interest, the print product is great for gaining a


Please keep comments to 200 words maximum


H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H


Email to: journalist@nuj.org.uk Post to: The Journalist 72 Acton Street, London WC1X 9NB Tweet to: @mschrisbuckley


broader view of the reach of events and topics and discovering there are more items of interest than we often realise. Given the range of topics in The Journalist, maintaining a print version is desirable. A quick scroll through the online version is useful to pick up the main items. The print medium is superior for concentrating on more substantial pieces, such as the last issue’s articles on matters such as byline banditry, international reporting, and the difficulties that lead too many young journalists to drop out, as well as Ray Snoddy’s careful exposition of the hunt for “real reader numbers”. Tom Lynch Life Member Edinburgh Freelance Branch


There is still stigma about bipolar affective disorder As a fellow journalist with bipolar affective disorder, I can sympathise with Alex Harvey (Your Say, May-June 2018). After many years of anguish, I was eventually diagnosed with the condition at the tender age of 40. Harvey is correct to say that manic


depression is an outmoded term but, personally, I couldn’t give a monkey’s what it’s called -- it is what it is and has unfortunately brought my career as a journalist to a premature end (for the moment, at least). Stress was, and is, a big trigger, and running a production desk for five national magazines for one of Europe’s largest publishers, on an increasingly threadbare shoestring, wasn’t what the doctor ordered. After 12 years of loyal service, the


company was reasonably supportive at first but, much against my better judgment, it felt as though I had no other option than to sign a settlement agreement after my sick pay ran out. I had worked in the profession for more than 20 years and am sad to have left behind a career that I loved. While awareness in the workplace has


improved, there is some way to go and, sadly, stigma is still rife. Mark Hamilton Oundle, Northants


TIM ELLIS


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28