02 Informed


Michelle’s Message


It’s particularly awe-inspiring how many lay members, branch officials and chapel reps are puting in brilliant effort to make things happen, despite the many pressures ongoing restrictions are having in everyone’s life right now. Tat collective energy and doggedness is really what makes the NUJ tick. We’ve been scoring great results on


Te sheer quantity and breadth of work being done across the union’s nations and regions right now is really quite breath-taking.


organising and recruitment initiatives led by reps across various sectors. Vital work has taken place on restructures, combatting job losses, tackling discrimination and ongoing important health and safety matters. The same is true of our work on campaigning and lobbying – on issues including the future of the industry, on Freedom of Information and transparency, on journalists’ safety, on the ability of newsgatherers to work unimpeded in the UK and Ireland, and also across borders post-Brexit, and the future of public service broadcasting.


And of course, on the NUJ’s News


Recovery Plan. Our chapels and officials continue to do excellent work to build support for the range of measures we believe will sustain our press throughout the pandemic and create new pathways for a diverse and plural press and media. In December, the Welsh Executive Council and Pamela Morton organised a highly successful town hall event, which I chaired – the panel including Louise Elliott, programme and digital editor at ITV Cymru Wales, actor and local news activist Michael Sheen, deputy minister for the economy and transport Lee Waters and journalism lecturer Ifan Morgan Jones.


In Scotland, the short-life working


group focussed on supporting and strengthening public interest journalism committed to after NUJ lobbying, held its first meeting on January 21. Several colleagues from Edinburgh Freelance Branch, which has spearheaded much of our work in this area, are now on the committee in their own respects. Sitting within the department of Fiona Hyslop


MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture, the union’s recovery plan recommendations are at the heart of its work.


Journalism should not just be a business – nor can it just rely on charity, philanthropy or the crumbs from the tech giants’ table


In Northern Ireland, branch members and union officials have met the newly launched Northern Ireland Assembly’s All Party Media Group on Press Freedom and Media Sustainability. After hearing harrowing evidence from NUJ member and Sunday World journalist Patricia Devlin over the continuing harassment and intimidation she is being subjected to, and following the recent threats made against the Panorama team in Belfast, the group has sought a meeting with the PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne, to discuss the proliferation in harassment and threats against journalists. This is alongside engagement the NUJ has been having directly with the PSNI. In the Republic of Ireland, the NUJ’s assistant general secretary gave evidence to the Irish Media Commission, putting forward a compelling argument and video presentation, Journalism Not Just Busin€ss [https://bit.ly/3uEpnuW], taking forward the principles for meaningful government intervention in the sector contained in the union’s News Recovery Plan. Work is also continuing on the London


Assembly front and discussions and engagement continues to take place with officials in DCMS, both directly and through joint-union meetings of affiliates in the wider creative sectors convened by the TUC. Given the overarching role we cite in the plan that the tech giants could


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