in brief... news


BBC OPENS LOCAL DEMOCRACY SCHEME Local news groups can now apply for a share of a pool of 150 journalists, paid for by the BBC. The “local democracy reporters” are part of the BBC’s Local News Partnership, into which the BBC is paying up to £8 million. There will also be access to an audio/video “news hub” of BBC content for online use and a data journalism unit.


MANAGEMENT BUYOUT AT INCISIVE MEDIA B2B magazine publisher Incisive Media, whose titles include Investment Week, the Inquirer and FX Week, is back in independent hands after a buyout led by its senior manager. Founder and chairman Tim Weller, who started the group in 1994, led the buyout with chief executive Jonathon Whitely and chief financial officer Jamie Campbell-Harris.


A SPOONFUL OF POLITICAL STORIES Four political journalists have started a new daily email called The Spoon. The free email aims to break down top stories in an easy to read format with links to news websites. It is written by former Independent on Sunday political editor Jane Merrick, former BBC presenter Bobby Friedman, former Economist reporter Martha Gill and GQ political correspondent Rupert Myers.


HUDDERSFIELD GETS NEW EDITOR ANKERS Wayne Ankers is the new editor of the Huddersfield Examiner. He joins from the Manchester Evening News where he was associate editor for content. He takes over from Roy Wright who was editor for 15 years.


UNION CONCERN AT THURROCK COUNCIL The union has written to Rob Gledhill, the Conservative leader of Thurrock council, over a new communications policy that states that journalists who do not sign up to an approved regulator will be barred from the press bench, as will those who fail to ensure right of reply or “reflect the council’s position accurately”.


6 | theJournalist


Women journalists suffer discrimination in Scotland


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The most common forms of discrimination that women face relate to promotion and career advancement


survey of journalists and media workers in Scotland has


revealed that 75 per cent of women have experienced discrimination at work, compared with 16 per cent of men.


The most common forms of


discrimination that women faced related to promotion and career advancement opportunities (35 per cent), inappropriate comments (34 per cent) equal pay (31 per cent) and flexible working (20 per cent). For men, the most common


form was paternity issues, experienced by eight per cent. Men also reported problems about flexible working, equal pay, promotion and career advancement opportunities (three per cent) and inappropriate comments (two per cent). The NUJ in Scotland


undertook the survey as part of the Stronger Voice for


Women in the Media project, funded via the Scottish TUC under the Trade Union, Fair Work and Modernisation Fund. Fiona Davidson, NUJ


Scotland women’s project worker, said: “The most pressing issues include equal pay, how to get more women into senior management, and to target sexism, misogyny, macho attitudes and online abuse.


RACISM ALIVE AT WORK, FINDS TUC They had heard racist


TUC survey of more than 5,000 black, Asian and minority


ethnic (BAME) workers found that many of them said they had been subject to bullying, racist abuse and violence.


remarks and opinions and witnessed racist material online and on posters, graffiti or leaflets. They reported that the


perpetrator was most likely to be a work colleague, with


a significant number citing their manager. The TUC’s interim report,


Let’s Talk About Racism, found that more than half (52 per cent) of BAME people in the UK thought the UK had become less tolerant since


“Flexible working to support


caring responsibilities of men and women needs to be addressed, along with precarious working and the impact on journalists’ financial situation and mental health.” Paul Holleran, NUJ Scottish


organiser said: “We believe that when employers are committed to developing and investing in their staff they can reap enormous rewards.”


the Brexit vote. This echoed findings


from a TUC/ICM poll, which showed that over a third (34 per cent) of BAME people witnessed or experienced racial abuse in the months after the Brexit vote.


Memorial bench for campaigner George A


memorial bench for former NUJ president George Macintyre has been installed at the National Memorial Arboretum near Lichfield, Staffordshire, to honour his campaigning work, which resulted in


posthumous pardons for 306 men executed during the First World War for desertion and other offences. George was a founding member of the Shot At Dawn campaign, which


successfully won pardons with the passing of the Armed Forces Act 2006. The bench is located at the Shot at Dawn section of the arboretum and


overlooks the 306 wooden posts representing the British, Irish and Commonwealth servicemen who were executed by firing squad after court martials.


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