08 Informed People


Pierre Vicary takes over as NUJ president


DM 2021 heralded the changing of the guard with Sian Jones receiving a huge thanks for her role as president as she passed the baton on Pierre Vicary. Pierre who has worked for the BBC


World Service since 1995 – now as a freelance – said he intended to champion self-employed journalists, night workers and, as a former war correspondent, would maintain his interest in journalists’ safety.


Although born in England, he lived in


various parts of Europe and started his career with the Australian Broadcasting Company as a correspondent in London. He went on to set up the broadcaster’s Central and Eastern bureau in Zagreb where he was at the heart of the action, witnessing the fall of the Berlin Wall, the downfall of Nicolae Ceaușescu’s dictatorship and the wars in the Balkans. He has been a long-term chair of the Broadcasting Industrial Council and a member of NEC for 10 years. He said: “An in-person DM is always the best, but there were technical innovations – such as the voting – that should be continued. Puting together an agenda that allowed DM more time to take decisions and debate the visionary motions and where we needed to take a new position was also successful. “And we must look towards securing a long-term way of deciding our finances. I’m a working journalist but hope to be able to take up invitations from as many branches as I can.”


Lyra McKee remembered


A special event during DM Week to celebrate the life of Lyra McKee brought together her partner, Sara Canning, friends, colleagues and all who loved the young journalist. Lyra was shot by a


Republican dissident during rioting in the streets of Derry on 18 April, 2019, aged 29; the union pledged to support the Justice for Lyra campaign and appealed for witnesses of her murder to come forward.


Sara said: “Tere was never


a dull moment with her.” Séamus Dooley said


Lyra was an outstanding journalist and her short life should not be defined by the circumstances of her death. She was named Sky’s journalist of the year at the age of 16 and her Leter to my 14-year-old self, in which she described the challenges of growing up gay in Belfast, won wide acclaim. Te year before she was killed, she had


secured two book deals and had received an offer from Netflix.


Also on the Zoom event


was Mark McCauley, director of photography on the forthcoming film, Ceasefire Baby, about Lyra. He said he was proud to be associated with the film which includes lots of tender moments between Lyra and her friends, now captured forever. Owen Reidy, the assistant general secretary of the Irish


Natasha Hirst was elected as Pierre’s vice-president. She is a freelance photographer based in Cardiff specialising in political and campaigns photography. She worked as equality officer for the


Wales TUC, as a political researcher and constituency photographer for the First Minister of Wales and is chair of Disability Arts Cymru. “It’s an honour to have the opportunity to continue campaigning on issues close to my heart: protecting and promoting journalism, journalists’ rights and being a strong advocate for increasing diversity across our industry,” she said. John Barsby was re-elected honorary


general treasurer. Members of the union’s councils, commitees and boards were voted in for the next cycle.


Congress of Trade Unions, said democracies needed investigative journalists such as Lyra.


Nick McGowan-Lowe


Tim Dawson


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