08 Informed DM motions round-up


Safety of journalists Te union’s work to protect and promote journalists’ safety will continue and the NUJ is to consider the establishment of a press freedom tracker that monitors and reports violations in real time (including arrests of journalists, seizure of equipment, assaults and police interrogation). Conference heard that broadcast journalists were being verbally and physically atacked while on jobs and the misogyny of online abuse was highlighted by Derry & North West branch. Delegates commended the excellent work conducted by the union to build relationships with the police, judiciary and the security industry, but called for urgent action to address continued problems encountered by reporters and photographers. Te union is working to have


proceedings dropped and equipment returned to Ernest M, a French publisher arrested by the UK police on his way to the London Book Fair. “Tis happened in London’s Olympia, not Beijing,” said Anna Hervé, NEC books member.


Te NUJ’s health and safety commitee


will urge the Health and Safety Executive to record work-related suicides and support work-safety pressure group, the Hazards Campaign. Te union will also step up its


atempts to get justice for the murdered Sunday World journalist, Martin O’Hagan.


Ethics


Motions on media intrusion into grief, fake news and on reporting poverty were debated. An Ethics Council motion passed by delegates noted concern about the lack of specialist guidance alongside court cases involving rape or sexual assault, particularly in reporting on


Wages and conditions Te company-wide strike at Reach was one of the NUJ’s finest hours, delegates heard, particularly in increasing minimum rates by between 14 and 44 per cent. It had boosted recruitment and offered a blueprint for organising other disputes. Te bad news, relayed in a late-notice motion, was yet another redundancy round at the UK’s biggest regional publisher. An Equality Council motion called


for a campaign to require employers to disclose salary ranges in job advertisements to stop people having to negotiate their pay at job interviews. Tis also discriminated against women and black and minority ethnic workers. Conference was told that many companies were forcing people to work from home. While this suited some members, others complained that it meant they were picking up the costs of heating.


Te pernicious use of digital “hits” to measure journalists’ performance was causing stress and favouring celebrity stories over quality of reporting, and the DM agreed it would do all it could to resist this practice. A World Service motion called for


improved conditions for night workers because anti-social hours contributed to ill health and depression. A campaign to promote diversity and tackle low starting salaries in publishing will be spearheaded by the Black Members’ Council, Disabled Members’ Council and Magazines and Books


trans-identified defendants, and the council was told to seek specialist advice and create guidelines. • Te guidance on reporting on


poverty will continue to be promoted. • Te importance of the union’s code of conduct in combating fake news was highlighted by Gareth Simkins from the Public Relations and Communications Commitee.


Industrial Council in conjunction with Oxford branch. Delegates instructed the union to mount a Pay Up for Freelance Journalism campaign to reverse the drastic decline in freelance earnings and to make major efforts to include pay rises for freelances in all agreements with media employers. In the run up to DM, the news broke that Buzzfeed was closing its news operation and Vice Media Group was filing for bankruptcy and seeking a buyer. Tese digital news organisations were once seen as the future of news, with Buzzfeed developing from producing cheeky listicles to Pulitzer-prize winning stories. But aſter a decade the bubble has burst. A motion from London Independent Broadcasting and New Media (now renamed the London Digital Media Branch) said the economic strategy of high debt and huge profitability had been exposed as a failure. Te motion expressed solidarity with those who have lost their jobs and the union has now been tasked to investigate new funding models for journalism.


News recovery plan Initiatives promoting public interest journalism and broadcasting were discussed. Delegates were told how the union’s News Recovery Plan recommendations, including a levy on the tech giants to reboot the media industry, had been used to great effect in discussions with the Welsh, Scotish and Irish governments. A Welsh working group recommended an institute to promote Welsh media. Martin Shipton, of the Welsh Executive Council, said this was needed because Books Council Wales had given grants to Newsquest to help set up a Welsh- language news service which closed aſter a few months. A Scotish working group’s report


led to the launch of the Scotish Public Interest Journalism Institute. David Gow, Glasgow branch, said it would act as a champion of Scotish journalism where investment was desperately needed


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12