Informed 07


– and apprentices were paid as litle as £7,500 a year. Te union will also work with MPs to outlaw Newsquest’s practice of firing and rehiring. Women with problems during menopause will now have extra help; the union agreed to launch a menopause-awareness campaign and training for reps to support maternity and breastfeeding rights. A one-day equality seminar to “equip members with the knowledge and tools to identify and challenge discrimination” will be held this year. Te Photographers’ Council and Black Members’ Council (BMC) will survey photographers and videographers to calculate the demographics of the industry. Conference welcomed the NUJ’s role as a member of the UK government’s National Commitee for the Safety of Journalists, the plan to protect journalists from atacks and harassment and its decision to push tech platforms to take action against the perpetrators of online abuse. Members are encouraged to participate in the forthcoming UK government’s call for evidence on atacks on journalists. Another motion noted the increased intimidation of journalists in Northern Ireland and conference instructed the NUJ to continue to help journalists facing dangerous working conditions. Te Newspapers and Agencies Industrial Council will organise another of its successful reps’ summits in spring 2021 to review the state of the industry, encourage the exchange of best practice and boost the confidence of reps. An event bringing together health & safety and welfare reps will also be held. A motion to merge the union’s


four equality councils was not carried. Natasha Hirst, NEC, pointed to their excellent work, the training they provided and how the NUJ was represented at the TUC’s equality conferences; she said a merger would send out the wrong message. Te union has voted to lobby against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and


Courts Bill which atempts to limit the right to protest, and also to ensure the Online Safety Bill does not damage media freedoms. Te Health and Safety Commitee, Equality Council, Disabled Members’ Council and Photographers’ Council are to organise a round table event on post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A motion to call the union simply NUJ


was defeated, with delegates voting for research into a possible name change or branding to reflect the diversity of members’ media roles and a report back to the next DM. Te union will work to change media


workplace culture which creates unsustainable workloads, excessive hours and high levels of stress. A survey of members will be conducted to assess the extent that these factors are affecting members’ mental health. Te union agreed to defend quality public servicing broadcasting in the UK and Ireland; demand the over- 75s TV licences are funded by the British government; and resist political interference in the BBC. It will fight for beter funding and wages at RTÉ, the Irish broadcaster, and a fair setlement for S4C in Wales. A review of the effects of Brexit on members’ working lives will be undertaken within the year and the union was tasked with monitoring developments on pensions for British nationals based in EU countries. Conference applauded the role


played by the NUJ in securing justice for presenter Naga Munchety, who was censured by BBC management for calling out Trump’s racism on air. A BMC motion noted the row caused by Ian Murray, former executive director of the Society of Editors, who denied bigotry in the media and said the Sewell Report’s findings amounted to “wilful ignorance”; conference agreed to continue to fight racism. Te union will work in Parliament


to make changes to Freedom of Information laws to extend the UK


Information Commissioner’s fining powers for bodies which refuse to comply with its requests, and to extend the scope of legislation to include companies providing outsourced services to public authorities. It will also lobby for an urgent review of Scotland’s FOI legislation. Te detention of WikiLeaks founder and whistle-blower, Julian Assange, was condemned by conference, which said his case constituted a grave threat to free speech and a free press; the union agreed to continue to campaign on the issue.


International With “press freedom under atack from all sides” the NEC’s Cailin Mackenzie said last December’s IFJ White Paper on Global Journalism had liſted the veil on the worrying global trend of declining media freedom, and atacks and cuts to journalism. Conference heard that atacks were no


longer confined to the usual suspects notorious for jailing journalists – Turkey, Egypt, China, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia and Belarus – reporters and photographers covering protests against coronavirus restrictions were physically atacked by extremist groups in Germany, Italy and in France where “the global security bill” would restrict the publication of photos and video footage of the police at demonstrations.


Donald Trump lashed out at journalists who asked him critical questions and his negative tweets created a toxic environment against the media in the US.


DM instructed the NUJ to back the IFJ in standing up for press freedom and journalists’ rights, to join the campaign for the release of the more than 250 journalists jailed for their work and to lobby for binding instruments to protect journalists, such as the IFJ International Convention on the Safety and Independence of Journalists. An NEC motion condemned in the strongest possible terms the deliberate targeting of journalists and media offices by Israeli forces during their atacks on Palestine.


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