news Commitments given as Observer sold


THE NUJ has secured concessions for Guardian and Observer journalists as the Observer moves to being owned by Tortoise Media. The union said it had been engaged in negotiations with the


Guardian Media Group and made significant progress over necessary mitigations for journalists, following members’ collective opposition to the sale of The Observer to Tortoise Media, the loss-making start-up founded by former Times editor James Harding. The NUJ Guardian and Observer chapel said: “We are pleased that hard-fought negotiations, which followed our historic industrial action, secured concessions for our Observer and Guardian colleagues, as our members voted to accept the mitigations offered. “We are willing to work constructively with management in


the next stage of transfer but expect conversations around the Guardian’s weekend operation and governance to begin at the earliest opportunity.” Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary, said: “I welcome the


progress that has been made to date on the back of the chapel’s powerful collective stand. We now want to see meaningful engagement through the TUPE process and outstanding issues such as workloads and governance addressed. “While Guardian Media Group will be aware that the NUJ’s ongoing trade dispute and current strike mandate remains live, we hope further industrial action can be avoided, and that good-faith negotiations will continue as we work to resolve the collective dispute.”


Concessions secured by the NUJ include the application window for voluntary redundancy option being extended by two weeks to 5 February and current redundancy terms for Observer staff to be protected for the next 18 months. Existing Guardian staff are to be given assurances on weekend working, as well as information on Saturday working at The Guardian. Currently contracted Observer freelances and regular casuals


are be treated as internal applicants for Guardian roles for the next 12 months. TUPE measures are to be issued before the voluntary redundancy deadline expires. The Scott Trust and GMG board have also committed to discuss changes to governance structures at the Guardian.


Journalists’ death toll hits 122


LAST year, 122 journalists and media workers were killed, according to the International Federation of Journalists’ (IFJ). Some 58 per cent of these deaths were a result of the war in Gaza. The figure is just seven below the


129 killings of media professionals in 2023, which was among the worst


for journalists since the IFJ started its annual Killed List in 1990. In addition, the IFJ revealed that, as of December 31 2024, 516 journalists were in prison – a sharp increase compared with 427 in 2023 and 375 in 2022. China (including Hong Kong) is the worst offender, with 135 journalists behind bars,


ahead of Israel (59 Palestinian journalists) and Myanmar (44). The IFJ published its annual Killed List on December 10 on International Human Rights Day. It then updated it to give the total for 2024 and to take into account the result of additional deaths in the Middle East and the Arab world


Johnnie Walker remembered by NUJ colleagues


THE LATE radio DJ Johnnie Walker has been remembered by former NUJ colleagues who recalled his ‘principled’ outlook and ‘commitment to the union’. Walker, who began his career as a pirate DJ in the 1960s at Swinging Radio England, died on December 31 at his home in Dorset at the age of 79, having been diagnosed with the debilitating lung condition idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. He was informed by doctors that the


condition was terminal and broadcast his last Radio 2 show in October.


04 | theJournalist


Among those who paid tribute to Walker are members of the former Wiltshire NUJ branch, who say he often attended its meetings. Former BBC Points West correspondent


Steve Brodie, who worked with Walker during the 1980s, said: “Johnnie Walker was a truly great guy and broadcaster. We launched GWR together when he moved to Swindon from Radio West in Bristol around 1983. “He was an excellent NUJ member. Of


course, he didn’t have to be but he was very principled and never wavered in his commitment to the union.”


after nine more journalists were killed in Palestine and two in Syria in late December. They included the killing of five journalists in central Gaza just after Christmas, who were hit by an Israeli air strike while working for satellite channel Al-Quds Today. They died sleeping in a clearly marked broadcasting van near Al-Awda Hospital, based in the Nuseirat refugee camp.


MARK THOMAS “


We now want to see engagement through TUPE and issues such as workloads and governance addressed


Laura Davison NUJ general secretary


JACK SULLIVAN / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO


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