Informed 07


Cash win at Oldham


Te NUJ has won £39,000 for members sacked when the Oldham Chronicle, owned by Hirst, Kidd & Rennie, went bust in September last year, with 49 people made redundant. A Manchester employment tribunal hearing resulted in a protective award judgment for the union’s members at


the daily newspaper, founded in 1854. Judge Baten awarded 90 days’ pay to the staff. Te payment will come from the government’s redundancy payments office. In theory, the members would be due money from the assets, but the liquidator, KPMG, said there would be litle leſt once it had taken its fee.


Hobby photographers told to make them pay


If it’s good enough to publish, then it is good enough to pay for was the starting point of #useitpayforit, a campaign asking amateur photographers to become more aware of the value of their images. NUJ branches and chapels were encouraged to make contact with local camera clubs. Tese clubs have been the target of the major newspaper groups for a source of free images for their titles, at the same time as sacking staff photographers. Newsquest has given out prizes to its


centres which have run the most non- paid for content, with Weymouth, which produces the Dorset Echo and Bridport and Lyme Regis News, running almost 17 per cent of stories and pictures from free sources. Te union reported that on Johnston Press titles in Scotland, the weekly picture budget is £15. Te union interviewed Martin Le May, whose amazing shot of a weasel riding on the back of a woodpecker was shared around the world in minutes without him making a penny. Quicker to cash in was Tanya Gold who snapped former Ukip leader Henry Bolton


Broadcasting news


STV concerns Members at STV atended an anxious and vocal chapel meeting following an announcement of cuts in news by the new CEO, Simon Pits. A working group to determine the future of STV2 has been established; options include the closure of the station and the handing back of the licences. Te chapel will meet frequently during this worrying time, to aid communication and as a show of strength, and will increase recruitment efforts. Separately there are concerns over discrepancies in gradings, with one grievance procedure initiated. Te chapel will conduct a pay survey to gauge the extent of the problem.


Peers warned of perils of radio out-sourcing


with his controversial girlfriend on the Tube, when he had said the relationship was over. Jason Latchford, the teenage photographer, had to chase up his local newspaper when it syndicated his picture of a pranged super-car to the national press without his permission. Most newspapers will pay highly for such pictures; there is no reason why amateurs should not benefit. Tat is why the NUJ has been


Read More htps://www.nuj.


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org.uk/campaigns/ useitpayforit/


promoting its Rate for Job and Freelance Fee Guides and has put out a checklist to help amateur photographers to get paid properly and to ensure they protect their work.


Te NUJ published a briefing paper for peers, as part of its Save BBC Radio campaign, as Lord Stevenson of Balmacara led a debate in the House of Lords which called for a review of the BBC’s plans to outsource 60 per cent of radio production and cautioned against the “Uberisation” of the radio workforce.


He said: “Tis change of


practice at the BBC gives rise to serious concerns, centring on the sustainability of what is really a very fragile radio production market. Te potential threat to smaller independent producers and to the BBC’s own in-house, world-leading production capacity has to be borne in mind.” htps://www.nuj.org.uk/ documents/nuj-briefing- competitive-tendering-of-bbc- national-radio/


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