Branch June 2020


Welcome to the June edition of NUJ Branch, a special newsleter providing information and news from branches during the present crisis. Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary, gives an update on her work supporting members, meetings with ministers and her evidence session on the future of journalism to members of the Lords Communications and Digital Select Commitee from her kitchen table.


being atacked and harassed by protesters while they have been covering the series of demonstrations and events in the wake of the US police killing of George Floyd. Te worst violence – in a prevailing atmosphere described by journalists on the ground as menacing and threatening – came during the London demonstrations at which far- right thugs were out in force. Any atack or abuse of photographers


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and reporters in the course of their work is unacceptable and physical atacks must be robustly investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice. Te latest incidents underline how the mood against media workers is febrile and alarming. During lockdown the situation has worsened. NUJ rep Amy Fenton was forced to flee her home – on police advice – aſter threats of the most vile and offensive kind were made against her and her young daughter, for her reporting work as Newsquest’s chief reporter in Cumbria. In Belfast the familiy of award-winning journalist, Patricia Devlin, was threatened by a loyalist paramilitary group, on top of the earlier violent threats made against newspaper staff and journalists in Belfast.


e have all been shocked by the sickening scenes of journalists and photographers


I raised these cases when I gave


evidence to the Lords Communications and Digital Select Commitee, calling for political leaders to do more to stem this spiralling antagonism. Leading by example would be good for starters, given some ministers and government officials have been part of the problem – banning reporters from press briefings, atacking so-called campaigning newspapers, giving anonymous briefings to undermine stories and dismiss them as “fake news”. Tese are the actions of a government choosing to whip up a febrile and toxic environment, particularly on social media, rather than one trying to tackle the pollution of public discourse and protecting journalists’ ability to do their job safely and well. Te UK government has commited to establishing a new national commitee for the safety of journalists with an associated action plan, and we’re pressing them to engage with us in this work. Our overwhelming priority has been supporting members and the industry during the Covid-19 crisis. Recent weeks have felt like the eye of the storm, but this week, as the government aid packages begin to taper, the notices of redundancies in newspapers and publishing have begun. Tat’s why urgent intervention is needed and why the NUJ’s News Recovery Plan is a campaign we’re running across the


union’s nations and regions. Branches all have a role to play in that. I continue to speak up for workers in the industry at meetings convened by Culture and Media Secretary Oliver Dowden, with the publishers and management of newspaper organisations, and via the TUC and the taskforce established to address the wider creative industries. During the evidence I gave to the Lords commitee inquiry into the future of journalism – my first experience of a virtual oral evidence session, speaking to peers from my kitchen table – we discussed the plight of freelances, the lack of diversity in the industry, the need for greater media literacy and our proposals in the plan to make sure public interest journalism prospers beyond the crisis. We held a successful Zoom town hall gathering last week with the Labour Party’s shadow media culture team Jo Stevens and Chris Matheson; almost 80 members participated and posed questions and explained the problems they were experiencing because of Covid-19.


In Solidarity,


Michelle Stanistreet


NUJ


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