02 Informed


Live from Laura


Colleagues, I hope you had a good summer and managed to keep cool. Tere’s a lot to update you on since our last edition of NUJ Informed – particularly concerning the future of local news and our public service media, journalists’ safety, press freedom, and our ongoing industrial work.


In June, the BBC announced that


From strike action at Te Lancet to upholding press freedom across the UK and Ireland, NUJ General Secretary Laura Davison provides the latest news on the union’s wide-ranging work.


the first wave of cuts could lead to a reduction of 550 roles across the news, nations, and content teams and the closure of cherished programming. This was followed by a decision to cut dedicated foreign stringers (correspondents) covering 14 European countries for the BBC. I wrote to the new Prime Minister and Culture Secretary, reiterating the union’s calls for urgent government intervention. I’m also engaging on these matters with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and our parliamentary group. As part of our Back The BBC campaign, we created a template letter for members to send to their MPs, urging them to sign our EDM, and launched a joint union petition through the TUC so that the public can get involved. Our regular engagement with DCMS


has focussed on obtaining follow-up detail in the published Local News Strategy, which we welcomed alongside a £12 million Local News Fund as “a positive start” in providing much needed


support to the industry. As online mis- and disinformation poses an ever-increasing threat to our information ecosystem and democracy, the NUJ responded to the UK government’s media green paper, which proposes legislation forcing social media companies to make “trustworthy news” prominent and easily discoverable. The union has expressed concerns


around Comcast’s proposed takeover of ITV and the implications on jobs, local news, and media concentration, and submitted a response to the competition regulator’s inquiry. I want to thank colleagues at the NUJ Scottish Office, and SEC and NEC members for making me welcome on my recent visit to Glasgow. It was especially good to talk about our excellent training programme in Scotland and how we can maximise opportunities for members as well as to hear more about our union’s work in tackling the historic anti-trade union culture at DC Thomson. It was also a pleasure to talk again to two of our STV reps to hear first-hand how they plan to progress issues around pay and workload burdens generated by Ofcom’s very disappointing decision to approve cutting the STV North programme. Our members at The Lancet only gained recognition in February but they are already banding together with purpose to push for better pay, voting overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action scheduled for this month. Please


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