news Local news to get government boost


THE UNION has welcomed the government’s Local Media Strategy – ‘the first action plan to back local news in a generation’, according to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy, culture secretary,


said it showed ‘the future of news is local’ and is ‘essential to a cohesive country’. She added this was ‘the start - not the end point – and we recognise there is more to do’. The strategy includes: • A local news fund of up to £12 million over two years to support ‘digital innovation’ and ‘fill news deserts’ • Increased annual funding of £1 million for community radio over three years, to sustain 400 existing stations and encourage development


‘in underserved areas’ • An Inspiring the Future


campaign based in the north west focused on developing media literacy skills and promoting journalism as a career to young people from diverse backgrounds • Promoting the


Newspapers for Schools news library – a scheme offering digital access to 150 local and national news titles to pupils and teachers in state schools • Establishing a regional


media forum in the west of England to ‘improve the relationship’ between local journalists and public services • A review of public notices, including of council decisions and alcohol licensing notices • Greater use of hyperlocal and local media for


education and access to local news, and the establishment of a Journalism Foundation with government grants. Laura Davison, NUJ general


secretary, said: “We welcome the acknowledgment of the essential role our members play in improving social cohesion and local democracy. “The establishment of a


LAUREN HURLEY


government advertising. The NUJ campaigned for a number of these measures in its News Recovery Plan, including investment in hyperlocal advertising, nationwide media literacy, promotion of journalism


Ukraine union chief visits NUJ


THE NUJ welcomed Sergiy Tomilenko, president of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, to the union’s London office in March. He thanked NUJ general


secretary Laura Davison for the union’s support and for donations made by NUJ groups and members to the International Federation of


Marching against the far right


NUJ activists and members joined thousands who gathered in London in March for the Together Alliance demonstration to show resistance to the far right. Those marching under the union’s banners included Laura Davison, general secretary and Roger McKenzie, co-chair of the Black Members’ Council, pictured right with Natasha Hirst, co-chair of the Equality Council. According to Together Alliance, half a million people attended the march, though the Metropolitan Police reported an estimate of 50,000 attendees. The march, which brought together people


of all ages and backgrounds, was marked by a strong sense of collective unity with thousands of trade union members filling up the streets. Dozens of NUJ members marched next to colleagues from Equity and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, united behind banners stating, “creative workers together against the far right”, displaying a shared commitment across the creative and media sector. Speakers including Diane Abbott, Jeremy


Corbyn, Billy Bragg, Zack Polanski and Hannah Spencer addressed the crowds with at the starting pointing on Park Lane and the end point in Whitehall.


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government-backed fund is recognition that the sector is too important to allow the market to decide its fate. “We support measures to


promote media literacy, journalism education and access to news. The government should also consider interest-free loans for journalism students as well as vouchers and tax credits to boost subscriptions.”


Journalists’ safety fund, which has helped journalists with equipment and facilities during the four-year-old war with Russia. According to the Article 19


organisation, a human rights campaign group that defends free speech and information, in the past four years, 16 journalists have been killed while reporting from Ukraine, while 62 others have been injured.


It said that 26 Ukrainian journalists are being held in Russian custody, mostly on charges of ‘terrorism’ or ‘espionage’. Viktoriia Roshchyna, a


Ukrainian journalist, died after a year in Russian detention aged 27. She had been captured in 2023 near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station. She had made several reporting trips into the occupied territories.


AWIL MOHAMOUD “


The future of news is local’ and is ‘essential to a cohesive country


Lisa Nandy Culture secretary


TIM DAWSON


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