02 Informed


Michelle’s Message


Lack of corporate transparency over the handling of the Observer sale leaves a legacy of “a monumental breach of trust” says Michelle Stanistreet in her final foreword


As the year draws to a close and I hand over the general secretarial baton to Laura Davison, the NUJ’s work across our nations and regions has been as diverse and lively as ever. As is the lot with any NUJ general secretary, the industry finds ways of delivering up surprises and industrial challenges, and one of Laura’s first duties as general secretary-elect has been to lead members across Te Guardian and Observer chapel into their first strike action in 50 years – a task she is carrying out with aplomb. For an organisation that publicly trumpets its values, its commitment to


open-access journalism and its “not for sale” protection from malign commercial forces, it’s done a pretty good job of demonstrating quite breathtaking hypocrisy when it comes to its own back yard. The haste with which it has shed longstanding commitments to The Observer has been quite the thing. The lack of corporate transparency and opaque negotiations behind closed doors has rightly appalled its journalists who are more used to scrutinising poor behaviour in other organisations. That the management chose to clinch the deal before the first strike action had even concluded was a final foolish move by a management that doesn’t seem to have got its head around the fact that it has lost the dressing room. However the deal pans out, the legacy of such a monumental breach of trust by Kath Viner and Anna Bateson will continue to be deeply felt by all those journalists who remain and is likely to be irrevocable. Beyond the hostile environment being


created by the Guardian’s management, the union’s wider work on safety has continued apace. All members should now be familiar with our new Journalists’ Safety Tracker, which we launched last month. The challenge now is to ensure that it is put to regular use. The tracker features a simple digital form and is the place to log all incidents of harassment, abuse, attack or threats that journalists endure in the course of their work – big or small. It’s not a substitute for reporting to the police, or flagging to employers and engagers – we want members to do that too of course. But having the ability to collate data on the range and spread of incidents that threaten journalists’ safety will be a powerful tool – one that we hope will lift the lid on the scale of the problem that has become a scourge right across the industry. In the first meeting of the National Committee for the Safety of Journalists of the new UK government, that took place this month, ministers welcomed the launch of the tracker and committed to pressing ahead with further actions in


the coming period. Employers also gave their backing to promoting the tracker and encouraging their teams to use it. Key to that work of course is also the spectrum of so-called “lawfare” journalists face, from the deployment of SLAPPs and other legal threats. Heidi Alexander, Justice Minister, confirmed last month there would be no UK SLAPPs legislation in this parliamentary session, less than a month after the Prime Minister said his government would tackle the issue.


104 journalists killed this year,


according to the IFJ According to the annual report of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), 2024 was another particularly deadly year for journalists and media professionals. As of 10 December 2024, 104 journalists had been killed worldwide, more than half of them in Gaza, Palestine (55). Te report was released on 10 December, to mark International Human Rights Day. According to the latest data, which is still incomplete, 104 media professionals were killed in the line of duty, including 12 women. IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: “Tese sad figures show once again how fragile is press freedom and how risky and dangerous is the profession of journalism. Te public’s need for information is very real at a time when authoritarian regimes are developing all over the world. Greater vigilance on the part of our profession is required. We urge the Member States of the United Nations to take action to ensure the adoption of a binding convention on the safety of journalists, so as to put an end to the deaths and injuries that occur every year”.


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