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Freelance journalists’ pay boosted by Dutch court


IN A HISTORIC judgment, a Dutch court has ruled it reasonable for two freelance journalists to be paid 50 per cent more for their work. Hourly rates of approximately £12.50 were judged too low. It was the first time a case, brought under


the Netherlands’ Authors’ Contract law, has intervened in the market to offer better pay for freelances. Employer DPG Media must now pay the


reporter €0.21 a word, and the photographer €65 a photograph. Thomas Bruning, general secretary of Dutch journalists’ union the NVJ, said the new rates were a first, important step towards fairer pay for regional journalists. The NVJ now plans to bring further legal cases for a large group of freelances. In January 2019, the NVJ, with its


photographers’ section the NVF, organised a national strike against low pay rates for freelance photographers which, it feared, could turn the profession into a ‘glorified hobby’ within 10 years. More than 500 members – half of the Dutch profession – laid down their cameras for 24 hours. The union then backed claims for higher


rates by regional freelance photographer Ruud Rogier, who had been paid €42 for photographs, involving up to three hours’ work each, and reporter Britt van Uem, who


was offered rates of 13 cents a word for a 500-word article taking four hours. Their lawyer Otto Volgenant said: “This is


too little to live on.” Van Uem said: “I refuse to work for a newspaper which thinks €15 an hour a reasonable rate.” Under the authors’ law, journalists have a


right to ‘reasonable’ reimbursement, but this is the first time a court has said what is reasonable. It took into account the gap between freelance rates and staff salaries. Rosa García López, secretary of the NVJ’s


freelance and photographers’ sections said this was a historic judgment with “consequences for all Dutch self-employed photographers and journalists”. DPG Media, which employs 4,000-5,000


regional freelance journalists, argues it is important that regional journalism remains profitable.


Reporter ‘does the job of the police’


A HEALTH TRUST representative shocked a public meeting in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, when he said he did not know girls from a children’s home were being sexually abused until he


read an article by NUJ member Rodney Edwards in the Impartial Reporter. Martin Carey, representing the trust’s chief executive, was answering a question about what the trust was doing about the abuse. He


said he knew “just what I’ve read in the papers”. Since March, Edwards has been running articles exposing sex abuse in the area. As a result, victims and survivors established a group, Silent No More, who


organised the meeting. NUJ national executive


council member Anton McCabe was a speaker. He asked: “Why was it left to local journalists? Why was this investigation not carried out by police?”


THE CHRONICLE, 7th N ov e m b e r 2019 Page 33 “ Coleraine Chronicle marks 175 years


THE COLERAINE Chronicle, one of Northern Ireland’s oldest newspapers, celebrated its 175th anniversary in November with a souvenir supplement. This included a reprint of the paper’s first front page in 1844, which then showed only advertising. Editor John Fillis said: “No matter how we get the news out to our readers, one thing remains


paramount – trust. Readers have to know that what they are reading is true and unbiased, never more so in the age of fake news and bloggers. “It’s why the Chronicle has managed to maintain its position as the most widely read newspaper in town – and just one reason that will continue to see it keeping that position.”


This was a historic judgment with consequences for all Dutch self-employed photographers and journalists


Rosa García López Secretary, NVJ freelance and photographers’ sections


inbrief...


FT APPOINTS FIRST FEMALE EDITOR Roula Khalaf has been appointed the first woman editor of the FT. Khalaf, who is now deputy editor, will start in the new year when current editor Lionel Barber leaves. Barber has been editor for 14 years and Khalaf has been deputy for three years. She has been at the paper for 24 years, having previously been foreign editor.


YOUNGE BECOMES SOCIOLOGY ACADEMIC Gary Younge, editor-at-large at the Guardian, is leaving the newspaper to join the University of Manchester as a professor of sociology. Younge, who has reported from the US, Europe and Africa, will continue to write for the newspaper.


PROFITS FALL AT THE TELEGRAPH The Telegraph’s pre-tax profits fell by 88 per cent to £1.6 million last year. However, total subscription revenues rose by 10 per cent after a 27 per cent increase in income from digital subscriptions.


CLARIFICATION FOR ENNISKILLEN REPORT In a news report about online threats to a reporter who had investigated historic child abuse in Enniskillen in the last edition of The Journalist, it was wrongly stated that the chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council refused to take a motion commending the reporter’s work. We would like to clarify that no motion was tabled although the reporter was praised.


TRAVEL INSURANCE FOR JOURNALISTS The International Federation of Journalists and battleface – a specialist travel insurer – are offering insurance to journalists. IFJ members, which include NUJ members, can access protection for medical expenses, evacuation, accidents and injuries. For more information: https://www.if.org


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