YourSay... ç inviting letters, comments, tweets


Please keep comments to 200 words maximum


H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H Going back to the future


I recently found a copy of a 1964 book: The Boys’ Book Of The Press. I couldn’t resist it. The book’s heart is in the right place and it says how important


the press is and how responsible the role of a journalist is in a democracy: “One fact remains immutable: however much we may find fault with the press, may attempt to curb its outspoken comments, may resent its free criticism of public institutions, it is itself an institution we could not manage without.” However, viewed from today, every page offers up an ironic


perspective on how the industry has evolved. Facts like: 74 provincial evening papers with a circulation of 6,700,000; a quarter of the nationals’ circulation held by the Mirror Group; the two top Sundays – the News of The World and The People – selling 12 million copies between them. On sub-editors, it says: “If reporters are the arms and legs,


editors the brain, then the sub-editors may, without exaggeration, be described as [a newspaper’s] heart … Sub-editors are a race apart. A good sub-editor is a priceless asset.” Reporters., it says, “must avoid giving grounds for criticism of a


profession which needs all the goodwill it can get”. At a time when the computer was just


appearing in the industry, it offers a glimpse of a future editorial department. We see a lone editor surrounded by screens and technology. Nah, it’ll never happen. Jeff Wright Life Member


Come on, pay up to keep print journalism alive Call me a Luddite if you wish, but I was bitterly disappointed in Chris Benfield’s letter regretting the online coverage provided by at least three newspapers, presumably in preference to getting their hands on real print and thus paying real money for a really good read. It behoves every journalist, surely, in an age when newspapers are suffering the worst period in their history, to set an example by buying a newspaper and supporting our fellow NUJ members, even if at times we disagree with some of the contents and the managements/owners who run them.


22 | theJournalist


£30 prize


letter H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H


After more than 50 years in journalism, I feel I owe a debt of gratitude to those who have employed me and, especially, to the generation who now have to grapple with the dicey reality of modern newspaper economics. Come on, Chris, pay up and help to support our newspapers and keep print journalism alive. Terry Gilder Newport


No ifs and buts on the words And and But Reading the current April/May issue, I was perturbed by a recurrence in the first few pages, namely the use


of the word “And” as the first word in a sentence. Having recently revised the style guide at my day job, I’ve been keen to remove both the use of the words And and also But as the first word in a sentence. However, in your magazine, I spotted it at least three times before I got to page 8. Is this one for journalists to determine the best course of action on or, as a writing industry, should we not realise that the words And and But are a continuation of a sentence, and should not be used at the start of one? Dan Raywood London


Email to: journalist@nuj.org.uk Post to: The Journalist 72 Acton Street, London WC1X 9NB Tweet to: @mschrisbuckley


The pensions triple lock needs to be maintained Those advocating axing the annual rise of the basic state pension through the triple lock system should be aware that one in six older people live below the poverty line and up to six million have an income of less than £11,000 a year. They ignore the real reduction in


value the basic state pension suffered when the link with earnings was broken by the Thatcher government in 1980. This meant that, by 2012 when the triple lock was introduced, the basic state pension, which should have been £161.30 a week had the earnings link still applied, was £97.65. Thus in 2012, a Tory government


introduced the triple lock of the retail prices index, the average wage or 2.5 per cent to make up lost ground. Many now argue that the triple lock has done its job and the state pension is too generous. In the six years since the lock has been in place, the minimum of 2.5 per cent has been used three times. However, far from having done its job, the triple lock is still needed to ensure that the gap between pensioners’ incomes and the rest of society does not widen. Roy Jones NUJ 60+ Council


London Photographers’ Branch closure On 28 April, the NUJ’s national executive council agreed to officially close down the London Photographers’ Branch. The NEC advised all its members to join the London Freelance Branch or another branch. Ideas had become calcified and the


LPB ceased functioning almost two years ago. It was very positive that the union’s national leadership intervened. We, union activists, deal with


problems as they arise and resolve them based upon what is immediately necessary. If we get things right in the present, the future is more easily secured. After people make the moral and


TIM ELLIS


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28