The Journalist Sept Oct 2015 by National Union of Journalists

m a g a z i n e

o f

t h e

n at i o n a l

u n i o n

o f

www.nuj.org.uk | sept/oct 2015

Yearzero

Turning the clock back on union rights

j o u r n a l i s t s

“

Contents Main feature 14 Back to Year Zero

Threat to put clock back on union rights

t’s back to school time again. Not just for children, but also for the cogs of public life as the political conference season approaches and the Government’s legislative programme gets underway. There’s a lot to contend with for unions in general and for the NUJ in particular. The Trade Union Bill threatens big problems for effective union campaigning and industrial bargaining and could seriously weaken the movement and its support of the Labour Party. Barrie Clement goes through the bill and its implications in our cover feature. The new Conservative government is also about to turn its attention to the BBC’s charter renewal and the future of the Corporation. More and more people are fearing the worst and warning politicians that the BBC is a world-class organisation that risks being irreparably harmed if it is too greatly reduced in size or scope. Raymond Snoddy is one of those who is pessimistic about the BBC’s prospects and his column highlights what we have to fear from the Culture Secretary John Whittingdale. Meanwhile the Labour Party will soon announce the election of a new leader. If the remarkable success of Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign (from barely making it onto the ballot to becoming frontrunner) is translated into victory he will be the first NUJ member to lead the Labour Party in decades.

Christine Buckley Editor @mschrisbuckley

Editor journalist@nuj.org.uk Design Surgerycreations.com info@surgerycreations.com Advertising Melanie Richards Tel: 01795 542417 ads@journalistmagazine.co.uk Print Warners www.warners.co.uk Distribution Packpost www.packpostsolutions.com

”

NUJ 308-312 Gray’s Inn Road London WC1X 8DP info@nuj.org.uk www.nuj.org.uk Tel: 020 7843 3700

Manchester office nujmanchester@nuj.org.uk Glasgow office nujscotland@nuj.org.uk Dublin office info@nuj.ie

Cover picture surgerycreations

News

03 NUJ legal check on ‘free tv licences’ Union opposes £750m cost to BBC

04 Newsquest deal after London action Unions press for improved offer

05 Scots journalists to ballot on strike

Members oppose 20 per cent job cuts

06 ITV members win new pay offer

Better pay and conditions deal accepted

07 FA chief backs NUJ on football bans

Greg Dyke responds to union objections

Features

10 Let’s go to York

What it’s like to work in ancient Jorvik

12 Getting down to business

Challenges for the City pages and beyond

Regulars 09 Viewpoint 17 NUJ and me 26 and finally

Arts with Attitude Pages 22-23

Raymond Snoddy Page 21

Letters & Steve Bell 24-25

news

Union challenges BBC deal over free licences Alamy/Alamy

he union has launched a legal challenge to the deal between the BBC and the Government which shifts the payment of free TV licences for those aged 75 and over from the Department for Work and Pensions to the corporation. The shift of responsibility for the payment is likely to cost the BBC £750 million. The NUJ believes that the BBC’s agreement to do this is in breach of public sector equality, that it unlawfully discriminates against persons under the age of 75, and that it is in breach of the BBC’s rules of governance. In secret talks with the Treasury, Tony Hall, BBC director general (pictured), agreed to the deal in return for the licence fee to be linked to inflation, the closing of the loophole on

catch-up TV and the ending of the BBC’s commitment to fund superfast broadband. However, John Whittingdale, the Culture Secretary, has since said the funding decision depended on the outcome of the consultation on the corporation’s charter review. The payment of the fee is expected to cost the BBC £750 million by 2020, which is almost a fifth of the corporation’s annual income.

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: “We have already said this was a shabby deal which is not good news for the licence fee payer or the BBC staff. “It places the corporation in a situation where more cuts to jobs and programming are needed because of the funding shortfall, a move which will inevitably compromise quality. “As well as being a bad deal done without any engagement with licence fee payers, we also believe that it is legally flawed “Our legal team has written to the BBC Trust asking a series of questions and requesting it to reverse its decision to agree to pay for the licences of those aged 75 and over.” Raymond Snoddy P21

in brief...

“

We have already said this was a shabby deal which is not good news for the licence fee payer or the BBC staff

”

Asian network strike over London move

taff at the BBC’s Asian network took strike action for 24 hours last month over the axing of one of its two Birmingham-based editor roles and the moving of the Bobby Friction show to London. Bobby Friction’s awarding-winning show, a mix of entertainment, desi, Bollywood and bhangra, makes up a third of all daily live network radio programming broadcast from Birmingham.

Apart from the Archers, the Asian Network is the last remaining network radio output based in the city, leaving the Mailbox, the BBC facility which costs £2.14 million a year, half-empty. Over recent years TV Programmes such as Coast, Countryfile, the Hairy Bikers, and the Radio 4 shows You and Yours, Farming Today, and Costing the Earth have been taken out of the Mailbox.

Tributes for former GS Ken Morgan

ributes have been paid to Ken Morgan, the former NUJ General Secretary and a major figure in British journalism over many years. Ken was aged 86 and died on August 5 in Farnborough, Kent. Ken served as NUJ General Secretary for seven years until 1977, having previously been a national organiser. He stepped down to become Joint Secretary of the original UK Press Council. He was later the Council’s Director for 10 years and oversaw the start of the Press Complaints

Commission, serving as Director for its first year in 1991. Ken’s union involvement began with his election as secretary of Manchester Freelance branch. He was later appointed as Central London’s first fulltime branch secretary. Seamus Dooley, Assistant General Secretary, said: “Ken Morgan served as General Secretary with distinction. He steered the union through turbulent waters with style, forbearance and commitment.”

Kuenssberg is new bbc political chief Laura Kuenssberg is the BBC’s new political editor. She takes over from Nick Robinson who will be one of the presenters on Radio 4’s Today programme. Keunssberg has been chief correspondent and a presenter on Newsnight since last year. She was business editor at ITV News between 2011 and 2014 and was BBC chief political correspondent from 2009 to 2011. Inglish leaves bbc role after 10 years Sue Inglish, the BBC’s head of political programmes, analysis and research is leaving. Inglish, who leads 150 staff in political news and programmes on radio, television and online, has been in her position for 10 years. Previously, she was head of analysis and research for news and also a foreign news editor. iconic music weekly NMe becomes free The NME will become a free weekly magazine from this month. The music magazine had an average weekly circulation of 15,384 in the second half of last year – down from more than 75,000 10 years ago. More than 300,000 free copies of the title will be distributed in stations, universities and shops. losses continue to fall at The Indy The Independent has seen a sharp fall in losses to £4.6 million for the year to September 2014. This compares with a loss of £12.3 million in the previous financial year and £16.6 million in the year before that. The Independent titles lost £22.6 million in the year to September 2011 (the first full year after Alexander Lebedev bought the newspapers in March 2010). newcastle journal loses its website The Newcastle Journal newspaper will no longer have a dedicated website. Owner Trinity Mirror said it was merging the website with the Newcastle Chronicle’s ChronicleLive. Trinity Mirror said the Journal site will continue to exist as an archive site. theJournalist | 03

news

Newsquest deal after south London dispute

in brief... Guardian is going to san francisco The Guardian is opening an office in San Francisco which it says will help its 24/7 editorial coverage, bridging the time zones between New York and Sydney. Merope Mills will head up the office and she will be joined by Paul Lewis as west coast bureau chief, and Jemima Kiss as head of technology. Student awards deadline looms Students have a few days left to submit entries via the Guardian Student Media Awards 2015 site. The deadline is 11 September. Applications are open to students aged 18 and over on a higher education course. Full entry requirements are on the site. new chair for magazine society The editor of the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s E&T magazine is the new chair of the British Society of Magazine Editors. Dickon Ross is thought to be the first chair from the business and professional magazine sector. The chair normally comes from the consumer sector. Ex-NoW reporter moves into drinks Former News of the World reporter Lucy Panton is the new head of communications at the Wine and Spirit Trade Association. Her appointment follows the quashing by the Appeal Court of her conviction for conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office. She was cleared with the help of an appeal publicised by Press Gazette in which journalists helped to pay her legal aid contribution. Local world sees its profits rise Local World’s pre-tax profits for last year was £43.6 million, up from £38.9 million for the previous year. Daily Mail and General Trust and Trinity Mirror, which own 59 per cent of Local World shares, earned more than £25 million between them as a result. In the year to last December, sales were £221 million, down four per cent. 4 | theJournalist

“

We are obviously pleased that an agreement has been reached and trainees will now be paid the London Living Wage in future

”

n amicable solution has been reached between NUJ members and Newsquest South London following lengthy negotiations between the two parties. The settlement follows a lengthy strike at south London titles in the summer. NUJ members called a strike over job cuts, staffing levels and pay for 12 days but stopped the action for talks. Compromise was eventually achieved over plans to restructure the editorial department and a number of other elements, including an agreement to pay trainee reporters the London Living Wage. Gary Kendall, managing director for Newsquest South London, said: “We are pleased to have reached an agreement acceptable to both sides which satisfies our

commitment to provide high quality editorial content for our print and online products in the future”. Laura Davison, NUJ national organiser, said: “We are obviously pleased that an agreement has been reached and trainees will now be paid the London Living Wage in future. We do, however, remain concerned that the staffing level is too low and we will be monitoring the situation in the run-up to the agreed three-month review. In reaching this agreement I would like to pay tribute to our members who showed real commitment to local journalism and their readers. The chapels would like to

thank and acknowledge all the support they received from NUJ members and chapels, local MPs, councillors and Assembly members and readers.” But more jobs are going in Newsquest operations elsewhere. Former Romanes group titles in Berkshire, now owned by Newsquest, are to outsource the production of advertisements to India and production hubs in Southampton and Newport. The company said seven jobs are to go in management, news, photographic and sport on the Oxford Mail and other titles in Oxfordshire. Two photographer roles are being cut in Bournemouth.

Irish Congress backs media commission call

he Irish Congress of Trade Union unanimously backed an NUJ call for the establishment of a Commission on the Future of the Media in Ireland. Seamus Dooley, Irish Secretary, proposed a motion at the Congress’s biennial conference. He told delegates: “We seek such a Commission because concentration of ownership directly influences the media landscape and influences the news we receive, and do not receive, every day. There is a public interest in media ownership – even if at times my members appear to be those you love to hate.” Congress also supported the union’s demand that the Government honour its commitment to restore the right of representation and collective bargaining. Currently the Irish Competition Authority views freelance workers as business undertakings and thus ineligible for collective representation by unions.

surge in advertising revenue reported

n 11.5 per cent surge in TV advertising lifted overall UK advertising spend in the traditionally weak first quarter to a record £4.7 billion. At £1.2 billion, TV spend recorded its highest Q1 total on record, according to the Warc online advertising service and the

Advertising Association. Warc said the sector had benefited from new revenue streams such as sponsorship, video-ondemand services, advertiserfunded programming and product placement. The report showed that radio and outdoor

advertising also performed well, but digital ad growth at national news brands at 7.8 per cent was the slowest on record, and spending across the industry fell by 6.8 per cent. Internet advertising as a whole rose by 12.8 per cent to a record £1.9 billion.

news

Strike ballot on threat of job cuts in Scotland

ournalists working on the Herald, Evening Times and Sunday Herald have voted unanimously to ballot for industrial action, including strike action, following Newsquest’s announcement it is to cut editorial jobs by 20 per cent on the Herald & Times group. Up to 20 jobs could be affected. This is the third round of redundancies in the group in the past ten months. The Scottish announcement is the latest round in Newsquest’s summer of sacking, with jobs also going in Wiltshire, Oxfordshire and Bournemouth. The newspaper group also announced it intends to implement cuts of 20 per cent in the Romanes Group, its new acquisition. This small but successful publisher turned a deficit to a profit of over £4m in the past five years, using traditional methods of selling newspapers and advertising space. The group, owners of the Greenock Telegraph, Dunfermline Press and titles across Ayrshire and the central belt, had not made any editorial redundancies in recent years, but

now faces adapting to the Newsquest culture of meeting new budgets by cutting jobs and introducing damaging savings which will have a severe effect on editorial. More details are expected following talks tomorrow. NUJ national organiser Paul Holleran said: “This treadmill of redundancies cannot continue. I have told Newsquest it is not sustainable to keep cutting jobs without putting a robust alternative structure in place. In response they said they will be coming back to us later in the year for a fundamental restructure in editorial areas and they wonder why people are so angry. They should just seek an interested buyer and sell the titles if their plan is to shrink the business to nothing.” In a letter to the union, the company said: “Newspaper revenues are declining and there is a need to cut cost and increase efficiency.” However, staff said the current lack of efficiency, with many journalists working excessive hours because of serious problems with staffing levels, was a result of poor management.

in brief...

“

It is not sustainable to keep cutting jobs without putting a robust alternative structure in place

”

TUC to discuss quality local journalism

AHowden/Alamy

he NUJ is taking the campaign for quality local journalism to Brighton this month, to win the support of organised labour in Britain at the TUC conference. An NUJ motion to be debated by delegates at

the annual union gathering repeats the call made by the TUC last year for an inquiry into the future of local newspapers. The NUJ motion says that Government proposals to support local newspapers through business rate relief,

currently under consultation “fall far short of the inquiry into the future of local newspapers called for by Congress in 2014. “Congress calls on the General Council and affiliates to support the NUJ’s Local News Matters

Union resists ‘rip off’ at Notting Hill carnival

hotographers and other journalists welcomed a campaign launched by the NUJ against a ‘rip off accreditation fee’ of £100 being imposed by the Notting Hill Carnival organisers on those wishing to cover the bank holiday weekend event last month.

NUJ opposition to the charge was backed by the News Media Association which represents UK publishers and national and international news and photographic agencies. The carnival organisers, London Notting Hill Carnival Enterprises Trust’s (LNHCET),

campaign and its call for a short government inquiry focussed not only on the immediate needs of the sector, but also on promoting greater plurality and supporting local communities trying to protect titles from closure.”

also sought to impose a new policy of taking access to material produced in covering the two-day festival. The £100 accreditation form states: “In exchange for providing a media accreditation pass, LNHCET requires and the recipient agrees to share their blog, video, article, write-up, recap, review or coverage of the events attended within three weeks of the conclusion of the event.”

Google told: forget past conviction The UK Information Commissioner has instructed Google to remove links detailing an individual’s criminal conviction following last year’s EU Court of Justice ruling on the “right to be forgotten”. The court had ruled last year that individuals have the right to request the removal of links to articles about them from search engines if they feel it breaches their right to privacy. Pact between TUC and students’ body The TUC and the National Union of Students have signed an agreement for joint campaigning between the trade union and student movements for the coming year. The accord will see the TUC and the NUS commit to work together to fight discrimination on campuses, in workplaces and in wider society, and to defend further and higher education from privatisation. New wave of print for Lloyd’s List Historic shipping industry publication Lloyd’s List is increasing its editorial staff and launching a new magazine which will be published 10 times a year. The former daily newspaper for the shipping industry went digitalonly in 2013 after 279 years in print. corbyn has eye on a murdoch watch Labour leadership contender Jeremy Corbyn has signalled his wish to keep a close eye on Rupert Murdoch’s concentration of media ownership in the UK. Corbyn told the Financial Times:: “I think there is far too much concentration in the hands of too few. “ Belfast Telegraph closing print site The Belfast Telegraph is to close its printing site on Royal Avenue, transferring printing operations to Newry, with a loss of nearly 90 jobs. Journalists are to move from Royal Avenue elsewhere in the city. Management blames a sales slump and loss of a major UK contract. theJournalist | 5

news

ITV pay dispute settled after renewed offer

in brief...

storr becomes the new cosmo editor The new editor of Cosmopolitan is Farrah Storr, the former launch editor of Women’s Health. Louise Court, who has edited Cosmopolitan for eight years, moves to be director of editorial strategy and content at Cosmopolitan’s owner Hearst Publishing. Royal reporter cleared on appeal Former News of the World royal reporter Ryan Sabey who was found guilty of aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office has had his conviction quashed. He was accused of cultivating a contact Paul Brunt who was in the same regiment as Prince Harry. The Lord Chief Justice quashed the conviction on the grounds that the jury was misdirected by the trial judge. Coulson’s deputy cleared by court Neil Wallis, Andy Coulson’s deputy at the News of the World, was found not guilty of being part of a plot to hack phones. He is the last of the journalists from the tabloid to face legal action over hacking. News UK staff vote for charity funds Staff at News UK, Harper Collins and Dow Jones across Britain and Ireland nominated causes to receive up to £50,000 from the News Corp Giving Fund. Alzheimer’s Society won the most votes and was given £50,00. The London Air Ambulance, Children’s Hospice Association Scotland, St Christopher’s Hospice and WhizzKids all received £10,000. 6 | theJournalist

“

Following a ballot, 97 per cent of NUJ ITV members voted to accept the deal

”

UJ members at ITV joined members of Bectu and Unite in accepting a renewed pay and conditions offer. The improved offer came after strike action was taken by members across ITV in May to coincide with the broadcaster’s annual general meeting. Following a ballot, 97 per cent of NUJ ITV members voted to accept the deal. The new offer means: • An increase in the redundancy cap from £36,000 to £45,000. • An additional two days leave per annum for all staff with over five years’ service in recognition of their commitment to the company. • A pay rise of 2.2 per cent for next year for those earning under £60,000 or in a union graded role. • The maximum bonus opportunity for next year will be maintained at the increased level of £1,500. Sue Harris, NUJ national broadcasting organiser, said: “We are pleased that these protracted negotiations are now at an end and that ITV has made considerable movement, particularly on issues such as the redundancy cap and additional leave for long service, all claims which had been stalled by

www.markthomasphotos.com

2015 dacs payback drive still open This year’s DACS Payback campaign that distributes royalties to artists, illustrators or photographers who have had work published is running until 30 September. Applications should be made via dacs.org.uk. This year’s campaign follows a legal dispute with the Copyright Licensing Agency, that if not resolved would have prevented DACS from being able to distribute the majority of royalties to artists.

management for several consecutive years. In addition the 2.2 per cent pay rise being offered for 2016 is projected, in the current economic climate, to represent an above RPI pay rise. Achieving this and some catch up for past years has been one of the joint union’s key aims.” The May strike action was called after ITV imposed a two per cent pay increase for this year. It was the first time that the broadcaster had faced nationwide industrial action for many years. Regional news coverage and some highprofile programmes such as Coronation Street and Good Morning Britain were disrupted by the strike. The joint unions staged a protest outside ITV’s annual general meeting in central London and petitioned shareholders.

Nursing Times wins at medical awards

enni Middleton, editor of Nursing Times, was named editor of the year by the Medical Journalists’ Association. Judges said she had ‘demonstrated an impressive record in transforming the fortunes of the publication and its brand, as well as providing lively, thought-provoking, and relevant content’.

Sarah Boseley, health editor at The Guardian, took the award for staff journalist (general audience). She was also the winner last year. Judge Olivia Timbs, former editor of The Pharmaceutical Journal, said Sarah’s entries ‘unusual and of a consistently high standard’. Other winners were: Broadcast

journalist, Liz Tucker of Verve Productions, for an account of a family’s struggle with motor neurone disease; Will Hazell of Health Service Journal, Young journalist; Matthew Hill of BBC Points West, Regional journalist, and Alex Matthews-King of Pulse, Story of the year, on the 2015 general election.

Body clock project takes NUJ prize

BBC TV, radio and online project examining the body clock won the NUJ Stephen White Award for the best communication and reporting of science in a non-science context at the Association of

Science Writers awards. The project, which ran across BBC programmes and online output was devised by James Gallagher, health editor for the BBC’s news website, and Rachael Buchanan, a science

and health journalist. Stephen White, a posthumous winner of the union’s gold badge, was head of communications at the British Psychological Society until his untimely death in 2010.

news

Football Association backs NUJ on bans

he Football Association has backed a campaign by the NUJ to stop football clubs censoring sports reporters and broadcasters. The move comes as the BBC said it would boycott Rangers press conferences after it banned reporter Chris McLaughlin for leading a match report by mentioning the accompanying sectarian chanting and fighting which had resulted in three arrests. Rangers also banned Times and Herald columnist Graham Spiers, who has written about the club’s financial and ownership issues in recent years. NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet wrote to FA chairman Greg Dyke, a former journalist, in July “because of our concern over a worrying trend among football clubs to ban reporters and instead have their own hand-picked writers

peddle propaganda from the proprietor’s point of view.” Mr Dyke replied that he had strong views on censorship, and agreed “with much of what you say.” But he he said he could not act because “the clubs are members of the leagues in which they play and it is for their leagues to set down requirements for the clubs”.

Stanistreet welcomed Dyke’s support for the NUJ’s view. “Although it is not in his gift to direct these clubs to drop the bans of reporters, I hope his words will have some influence on the other football chief executives. She said she would write to the Premiership, the Football League and the Scottish Professional Football League to seek their views. Newcastle United banned a swathe of media outlets in October 2013 for covering fans’ protests against the owner Mike Ashley. Telegraph journalists are still not welcome at St James’s Park. At one point, a Channel 4 reporter was banned for seeking the club’s views on such bans. Swindon Town has said it would ban independent news outlets from press conferences. “News” would be disseminated online by an “in-house journalist”.

in brief...

“

I hope his words will have some influence on the other football chief executives

”

who’s been snooping around here, then?

olice Scotland has refused to confirm or deny allegations that it unlawfully snooped on journalists to find their sources. Journalists working for

the BBC and Sunday Mail said they had been told that their sources had been targeted, The Sunday Herald said Police Scotland had used the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act

(RIPA) to secretly obtain journalistic phone records without judicial approval since the law was changed to prevent this practice in March. The change in the law

came after a campaign by UK Press Gazette. In Oxfordshire, Thames Valley Police has again refused to confirm or deny whether it has used RIPA to spy on journalists. incamerastock/Alamy

Propaganda inverts truth in debate

ropaganda is the invisible government, the journalist, filmmaker and author John Pilger told an audience at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He used an introduction to a Q&A session entitled Power and Propaganda, to argue that misinformation, coupled with the distractions of consumerism and a different kind of politics, had succeeded in inverting the truth in public debate, so that – for example – the

conflict between the wealthy and the poor was presented as conflict between an open society and its enemies. Inversions of stories included the narrative about Russia invading/threatening parts of Europe while the real story, he said, was the encirclement of Russia by massive forces, with the eventual aim of the country’s dismemberment. There was a reluctance, to recognise the ruthlessness of power, he said.

INDEPENDENCE STANCE DRIVES SALES The Sunday Herald’s proindependence stance in last year’s Scottish referendum and the launch of the new independence-leaning The National helped drive a strong year-on year rise in the Herald group’s circulation in the second half of 2014. The Sunday title’s circulation surged by 35 per cent while the daily The Herald, which remained neutral in the campaign, saw sales fall five per cent. HACKING COSTS HIT mirror PROFITS A slump in advertising and payments to victims of phone hacking depressed first-half profits at Trinity Mirror. The group made profits of £12.1 million: it has put aside an additional £16 million to cover the impact of phonehacking costs. sky customer milestone passed Sky has passed the 12 million customer mark in the UK and Ireland in what the company described as its highest organic growth in the UK and Ireland for 11 years, adding 506,000 customers in the year to the end of June. Annual revenues were £11.3 billion with profits of £1.3 billion, slightly ahead of analysts’ forecasts. UNION RECOGNITION AT GUARDIAN Us Journalists at Guardian US have voted unanimously for union representation and recognition. Brian Williams, joint FoC of the UK’s Guardian and Observer chapel, said the chapel would “look to work closely with the News Media Guild to improve all journalists’ terms and conditions and to fly the flag for quality journalism.” more evidence of newspaper DECLINE A third of people in Scotland have stopped reading newspapers regularly since the millennium. According to The Scottish Social Attitudes survey – 41 per cent of Scots “regularly read one or more daily morning newspapers” in 2014, down from 76 per cent in 1999. theJournalist | 7

ents of £ aym 24 yp .9 hl

Get a sharper approach to your accounts

Tax and Accountancy Service

£24.92

per month*

• • • • • Mo nt ice rv

f cus

…whilst they focus on my accounts.

ccountancy da se an

TWD let me concentrate sole trad er for ta x on what I do best… 2*

Listen to our media podcast to find out what's happening in the industry Want to be the first to know the latest media gossip? Every fortnight, we're joined by senior editors, journalists and media professionals to discuss the top media headlines. Download the latest podcast now.

Costs

Quality

Savings

Time

Satisfaction

* price includes VAT, an initial deposit greater than £24.92 may be payable, the full cost per tax year to be paid is £299 including VAT.

www.mediafocus.org.uk Listen on iTunes

Media_Focus_UK

For more information: Call: 0800 093 9433 visit: twdaccounts.co.uk/nuj Email: chrisf@twdaccounts.co.uk

WORKING FOR POVERTY WAGES

fb.me/twdaccountants @ twdaccountants

Help us fight for workers’ rights War on Want tackles the root causes of poverty and fights for equality, justice and human rights across the world.

We need your support today. Please donate now: waronwant.org/tea 020 7324 5046 D390C

true cost of tea ad half page.indd 1

08 | theJournalist

Registered charity no. 208724

4/12/2011 10:54:23 AM

viewpoint Séamus Dooley argues that Ireland needs a media commission

Politicians afraid of O’Brien’s shadow

he Irish Congress of Trade Unions has backed the NUJ’s demand for a Commission on the future of the media in Ireland. As Irish Secretary I was pleased that we managed to secure unanimous support at the recent ICTU biennial delegate conference. This follows publication of government guidelines on media mergers. These guidelines fail to address the growing concern at the dominant position of billionaire media tycoon Denis O’Brien. In any debate on media ownership in Ireland it’s hard to avoid O’Brien. Having failed to tackle the issue of media monopolies during the reign of Tony O’Reilly, Irish politicians seem too afraid to face down O’Brien. He is combative, litigious and ruthless in pursuit of his commercial interests, and Irish politicians have refused to address issues arising from his dominant role in the media. That’s why the NUJ is seeking a Commission which would provide a platform for examining all aspects of the media landscape in Ireland, including media ownership and control across all sectors. The independent commission would also look at employment standards, access to employment, in-service training, the protection of minority media, the development of greater gender and ethnic diversity and the protection of media freedom. O’Brien, casts a long shadow. His Communicorp Group holds the largest share in the dominant media group in Ireland, Independent News and Media and has a firm grip on a number of national commercial radio stations.

“

In 2008 O’Brien’s stake in INM surpassed 25 per cent thus allowing him to block special resolutions from the INM board

”

In 2007, as he was preparing his successful bid to gain control of INM, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland approved O’Brien’s acquisition of Today FM and a number of stations The BAI concluded that O’Brien did not control INM and allowed his radio acquisition to proceed. In 2008 O’Brien’s stake in INM surpassed 25 per cent, thus allowing him to block special resolutions from the INM board. He still insists he does not control INM, but through board appointments and the implementation of his policies and commercial strategies O’Brien has a chilling effect on the Irish media landscape. Nonetheless, all this represents an abject failure to tackle powerful media interests by a political class terrified by the power wielded by O’Brien. It took the former leader of the Progressive Democrats Michael McDowell SC, no leftwing fundamentalist, to point out that, contrary to Communications minister Alex White’s claims, there is no legal barrier to retrospective measures to protect the public interest. A government commitment to tackle the issue of media ownership was made at an NUJ conference in 2011 by the predecessor of Alex White, himself a former trade union activist and RTÉ producer. In fairness the new

guidelines attempt to introduce a balance on policy media ownership in Ireland. But positive language without strong legislative measures will not break the stranglehold which a few individuals and companies have on media ownership and control in Ireland. We need Irish politicians to realise that media ownership and control is an issue of fundamental importance to democracy. Séamus Dooley is NUJ Irish Secretary. @seamusdo

For all the latest news from the NUJ go to www.nuj.org.uk theJournalist | 9

Linda Harrison celebrates her home city, a centre of commerce since Viking days

Timewatch Images/Alamy

10 | theJournalist

f York were a person, she’d be beautiful, busy, friendly and very northern. York is a spectacular place to live, full of history – from the medieval city walls you can still stroll around to the towering spires of York Minister. But these are pretty young additions in terms of the city’s history. You need to dig deeper below the cobbled streets for the really old stuff. The Vikings left plenty of evidence of their lives in York (then known as Jorvik) – some of which was unearthed a few decades ago and is today on show at the city’s Jorvik Viking Centre. And the remains of a Roman fortress can be viewed at the Minster. It’s beautiful to walk along the banks of the River Ouse in summer but it’s winter when York really comes into its own, with its atmospheric streets whited over and the many ghost

walks led through the city under cover of darkness. And then there are the cosy pubs. At this point I should confess that I am a little biased – York is my home city. But I’m not the only journalist who loves it. Freelance Mandy Appleyard writes for national newspapers and magazines, including the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Red and Grazia. “York is a wonderful place to live and work,” she says. “It’s a small and manageable city, fairly central in terms of getting to anywhere I need to go, and I can be in London on the train direct in two hours, which makes it easy to be there on the occasions when I have to be. “I have worked as a freelance for many years, the last four from here, mostly for national newspapers and magazines, and happily the fact that I am in York is generally no hindrance to my career.” Newsquest is the biggest newspaper employer in York, publishing the city’s daily newspaper The Press. Like most local papers, The Press (which was previously called the Yorkshire Evening Press) has suffered editorial redundancies in recent years. Other Newsquest titles include The Press’ sister paper, the Gazette & Herald, a weekly covering the nearby rural area of Ryedale, free monthly lifestyle magazine Yorkshire Living and the York & Selby Star. The BBC’s Radio York studios are also in the city while the main commercial radio station is Minster FM. York generates plenty of news and one of the biggest recent events was the Tour de France, which passed through the city last year. Thousands of people lined the streets to cheer on the riders. “There was a real buzz around York – and the rest of Yorkshire – around the Tour de France,” says Victoria Prest, political reporter at The Press. “After writing about it from the very first announcement that Yorkshire had won the bid in 2012, covering the race day was definitely one of my favourite ever jobs.” A number of local magazines and websites also operate in the city. Your Local Link Media Group, which is based in nearby Haxby, publishes free local magazines Your Local Link and What’s On, a guide to what’s happening in the city. It also creates the Best Pages magazine for East Yorkshire and the Yorkshire coast plus the Scarborough Review newspaper.

news hub Words from the streets One&Other is a lifestyle and culture title. Editor-in-chief Vicky Parry says it aims to write about the ‘often underrepresented sectors’ in York. “We are very much journalists on the street, live reporting; picking up on stories pre-press release,” says Vicky. “Social media obviously helps us a lot with this approach. We are also strong advocators of Solutions Journalism, reporting on cause-based stuff and actively encouraging our audience to act on what they have just read about…I very much learnt my style on the job. “There is a trend in modern journalism of a more conversational, solution-based approach and gradually I adopted this and trained my writers to do the same. Sometimes I think my non-journalistic background is what has won us awards, it makes us stand out as we aren’t bound by conventions.” Meanwhile, YorkMix describes itself as ‘a mix of stuff about York. Just like the city, it is diverse, lively, curious, contrary, a bit maddening at times and easy to get around’.

Where the work is The BBC

About 30 staff at Radio York, the local BBC radio station for North Yorkshire. The station has been broadcasting from its city centre studio on Bootham since 1983.

Newsquest

About 20 staff. Newsquest York is the main newspaper employer in the city, based on Walmgate in the city centre. Its main title is The Press, a daily tabloid-style newspaper for the city first published in 1882 (formerly the Yorkshire Evening Press). Other titles include the Gazette & Herald, for the nearby areas of Malton and Ryedale, plus the York & Selby Star, a free

weekly compact paper which is delivered locally. It also has free glossy monthly lifestyle magazine Yorkshire Living.

Your Local Link Media Group

Three full-time journalists, one journalism apprentice and two freelance journalists, who all work across the group’s print and online publications.

Minster FM

Two journalists, one news editor and one breakfast journalist. Staff also run a web news page plus social media accounts. Minster FM is based in Dunnington, a village near York, and is part of the UKRD Group of radio stations.

Chris Titley, YorkMix editor, says the digital news magazine is about what’s happening in York: “Our what’s on guide is very important – we like to look at what’s new in the city. We also have news stories and opinion stuff. There were lots of different things all over the web and we wanted to create a digital hub for the city.” Other sites include York On A Fork – local restaurant reviews and foodie news. Chris, former features editor at The Press when it was the Yorkshire Evening Press, adds that working as a journalist in York can be difficult unless you’re 100 per cent freelance but says that there are opportunities for writers looking to diversify. “Regional budgets have been cut back,” he says. “Sometimes you have to look a bit further afield for writing opportunities. But with the downturn of traditional content there’s an upturn in the need for good quality content online – running social media for businesses, blogging, etc.”

reative and digital businesses are said to be the largest growth area of York’s economy. In fact, in 2014 York was designated a City of Media Arts by UNESCO, making it a member of the worldwide Creative Cities Network. Away from work, York is also a great place to bring up a family. “The schools are very good, there’s a good community feel and it’s a very safe place to live,” says Chris. “It’s kind of like a big market town really. It’s a great quality of life and a very friendly place.” He adds that there’s a fantastic food and drink scene, saying that while there have always been some really great pubs in York, there are now also great bars and really good restaurants. But the main drawback, many residents agree, is driving in the city. “York is invariably choked with traffic, which makes getting in and out and round it very frustrating sometimes,” says Mandy. “And it can be over-run with tourists at the height of the summer. But it’s a beautiful old place, and I’m proud to live and work here.” Victoria adds that it’s very easy to get out into the countryside. “North Yorkshire is just on the doorstep and I love being able to get out and about on my bike or on foot,” she says. “Even from the city centre you can hop onto the path by the river and be surrounded by green fields in ten or twenty minutes. “I grew up about 20 miles away so I might be biased but I don’t think there’s anywhere better for enjoying the outdoors. It is beautiful countryside but it’s not all chocolateboxy tourist country – people live and work here.”

Victoria Prest, political reporter at The Press: “The city’s got some great pubs and independent cafes and restaurants and there’s plenty going on (not just the races!). Luckily, one of the best streets for independent coffee shops and good bars is also the street that houses The Press’s office.” Mandy Appleyard, freelance journalist: “I’m a keen walker so I love to sneak off into the Howardian Hills for a hike when I have a free afternoon, and I also enjoy the coffee shops and small, quirky indie shops in York itself. We also have some cracking eateries in and around the city.” Vicky Parry, editor-in-chief at One&Other Magazine: “York is beautiful, shrouded in history and culture and with a very high quality of life.” Chris Titley, editor of YorkMix: “The Tour de France coming through York last year was great – it really helped with putting the place on the map.”

theJournalist | 11

business journalism

Getting down to bu Stefan Stern considers the challenges and opportunities for the City pages and beyond

Steve Nichols/Alamy

eporters do not usually like becoming the story. But at the end of July we got a rare insight into the sometimes chaotic world of high-powered deal-making, courtesy of the Twitter accounts of several Financial Times journalists. Speculation had grown over previous days, thanks to a story on the Bloomberg newswire, that Pearson, the long-standing owner of the FT, was close to a sale. The story was ridiculed by many, who were used to seeing other papers running with unsourced rumours about Pearson and the FT. But that Thursday morning there really was news – at least, it looked like it. Axel Springer, the German media group, owner of Bild and Die Welt, was going to get its hands on the FT. Staff at the paper started making jokes about learning German (disclosure: I was on the staff there until 2010 and still write for them.). Axel Springer started “trending” on Twitter. Except that... the story was wrong. Just after lunchtime the real story emerged: Nikkei, the Japanese financial publisher, was buying the FT for £844 million. Chuck out the German phrasebook, and take a bow to the east. A rapidly assembled meeting at the FT’s Southwark bridge headquarters saw the Pearson chief executive, John Fallon, and FT group CEO, John Ridding, explain what the deal would mean. FT staff, including NUJ FoC Steve Bird, asked some good questions, as you would have expected them to do. And meanwhile the FT’s own reporters got to work uncovering the fast-moving details of the deal, which had only been sealed at the last minute when the Nikkei people had upped their offer by around £100 million. Here was proof, if any were needed, that global business journalism is a hot commodity. These stories move fast. Only two weeks earlier there had been another striking example of what business journalism can do. On July 14 a fake Bloomberg wire story concerning a fictitious plan to buy Twitter was posted and disseminated (via Twitter, naturally). This happened at 11.36 in the morning New York time. Twitter’s share price “spiked” upwards by more than eight per cent. 12 | theJournalist

A spokesman for Bloomberg quickly tweeted that the apparent story was in fact a quite well-executed hoax, published on a lookalike (but bogus) “Bloomberg” web site. By 11.50am Twitter’s shares were back to their earlier prehoax price. But in the meantime, anyone managing to trade Twitter stock could have made a handy $2 a share. And if you had placed a big buy and subsequent sell order at the right time, well ..... do the math, as they say on Wall Street. There is a reason why some stories are called “market movers”. But today, with the spread of blogs, online news sites as well as the live coverage provided by mainstream media, there is more business noise out there than ever before. In a still nervous post-financial crisis world, getting a tiny piece of (true!) information a few seconds ahead of everybody else could be valuable. “An exclusive news story on our live blog could make our readers money,” says Andrew Clark, deputy business editor at The Times. As in other areas, technological change has forced business journalism to adapt. But it is possible that business coverage has changed more than many other categories. Some of the clichés about the old world were true. City pages were steady, at times even rather leisurely sections for some of the time. Pre “Big Bang” (1986) and the emergence of global markets that are interacting almost non-stop, the day’s trading was a bit more predictable, with its own familiar rhythm. “I think that business sections are far better than they were 20 years ago,” The Times’ Clark says. “There used to be these long stories about company reports, but they could be a bit dull. The demand from investors has changed – they don’t want tedious write-ups. You can’t produce a paper that tells you about things that happened yesterday which you already knew about,” he says. From early stock market announcements at 7am through to Wall Street closing at 10pm UK time, with Asia opening up shortly afterwards, business news hardly sleeps. The BBC, once criticised (not least by its former business editor, Jeff Randall) for being too slow and even “anti-business”, now gives over a generous 15 minutes of airtime on Radio 4’s Today programme at 6.15 to cover business stories and interview market players. For the Financial Times this is naturally an energising moment – and not just because it is about to have a new owner. After a false start with the first iteration of ft.com over a decade ago, the FT’s online operation has grown in strength. While sales figures

business for the print edition reflect the general downward trend, online the FT is a success story. This is premium information for which people are prepared to pay. And increasingly readers want access to that information on a variety of gadgets. Digital revenue now makes up 70 per cent of the FT’s total paying audience. The FT led the way with the “metered model” for payments, whereby readers pay a fee for access to content after reading three free articles a month. Now the paper is moving to a new charging model with a fee for full access to FT content. At the end of February the FT announced it had print and digital circulation of 720,000 globally, of which two thirds were digital subscribers, up 21 per cent on the year. But, business-like, the FT cannot be complacent. Robert Shrimsley, managing editor of ft.com (speaking to me before news of the Nikkei deal broke) said: “I’m pretty clear that nothing is forever online. I am at least as mindful of well-executed niche sites as I am of general business news ones. There is no single magic formula. All business models have their limitations, but at least with subscription models bankruptcy is less likely to be one of them.” It is a multimedia world. Ben Chu, deputy business editor at The Independent, describes how his day might begin with picking up the early business news coverage from sister publication, the London Evening Standard, before starting to draw up the day’s story list. But there is also a chance that at some point in the day colleagues from London Live TV will ask a correspondent to go to the studios (in the same west London building) and give an update on a moving story. And then there is Twitter – “even faster than the wires as a source of material, just not always entirely reliable,” as Chu says. While the Indy will run five or six pages of business news, stories may be claimed by the main news section . And then there is the i paper – edited from the Independent but selling (at 40 pence) six or seven times as many copies as its parent. It is online where the mix of competitors and new voices is most intense and varied. Many operate without a paywall, hoping that the volume of readers will convince advertisers that the site is worth supporting. A busy website like Business Insider both feeds off news gathered elsewhere (“aggregation”…or is it “appropriation', as some critics call it,) while also putting up its own stories. The International Business Times ( disclosure:for which I write a fortnightly column) is a similar, fast-growing site.

A new website, CapX, supported by the Centre for Policy Studies, is producing high quality analysis and commentary. Quartz is another impressive website. Its tech reporter Leo Mirani says that it is not out to maximise traffic through sensational stories and it runs long reads as well as news. For journalists, this online era of “big data” is both empowering but also potentially threatening. In a world of at times quite murky “search engine optimisation” techniques the temptation to write scandalous, inaccurate rubbish – “clickbait” – could be high. Individual reporters might be measured on the traffic they generate. This developing online world presents a test to editors, bosses and hacks alike. The ongoing battle of Reuters and Bloomberg to provide fast and dependable market coverage is at the heart of these changes. But there have been tensions and resignations at Reuters recently, as it struggles to balance its business selling terminals to market participants with journalism. Print is not dead yet, though. The FT’s new owners Nikkei are big believers. And Andrew Clark says: “Some readers still buy the paper for the share prices and unit trust prices, and they would probably protest pretty swiftly if we took them out.” There are still a few people, it seems, who look forward to their morning paper.

But what about the workers? the highly paid people who run these companies, journalism. Yet something the scandals and the is missing. In that screw-ups. traditional but (these But what is it like days) less frequently to work for these heard cry: what about businesses? This is much the workers? less well covered. And Around 30 million this is partly because the people go to work every specialist correspondents day in the UK. We are told who knew about work the economy is recovering. and workplaces – the And business journalists labour, industrial and keep us well informed employment reporters – as far as the share prices are so massively depleted. of quoted companies Unions have long are concerned, their recognised that, profitability (or lack of it), unfortunately, Yes, business is booming for business

threatening strike action has been the most effective and sometimes the only way to get the attention of news editors. And yet, given the continuing “productivity riddle” in our economy, the new minimum wage and in-work tax credits, and concerns over the future of the labour market, would it not be a good idea if the business pages also found space for reporting and analysis of what workers are doing? I only ask.

theJournalist | 13

The Government is seeking to weaken trade unionism by introducing harsh and restrictive new legislation, says Barrie Clement

Fight is on for union rights Y

ou have to wonder what the unions have done to deserve the extreme legislation planned by the Conservative Government. Effectively unions are to be placed under house arrest. Already subject to laws which Tony Blair boasted were ‘the most restrictive on trade unions in the western world’, the Government is going much further and presenting the movement with one of the biggest challenges it has faced since its inception. The Tories intend to increase the state’s surveillance over unions by giving the official Certification Officer more powers; making industrial action in many large public sector organisations virtually impossible and – with a degree of cynicism breath-taking even by the standards of the Conservative Party – driving the Labour Party towards bankruptcy. You have to hand it to the Tories for their sheer authoritarian chutzpah. The problem for unions lies in the superficial fairness of some of the measures. Why shouldn’t the Government insist on a higher turnout in ballots if workers are seeking to take industrial action, especially in ‘essential services’? But let’s take a look at the proposals. The intended laws would make it extremely difficult for unions in the private sector to defend pay, conditions and jobs at large enterprises. At least 50 per cent of the members have to take part in the ballot for a strike vote to be lawful. Industrial action in “essential services” will be even harder. Not only must half the membership participate in the vote, at least 40 per cent of that membership has to back any action. In other words where 50 out of 100 employees vote in a ballot, 40 of them have to back strikes – or 80 per cent of those voting. This will apply to workers in health, education, transport and local government among other sectors and therefore to some of the lowest paid workers in Britain. Recent strikes on the London Underground would be lawful under the new legislation, but it is an unusual public sector enterprise with a single employer, a limited number 14 | theJournalist

unions

of workplaces and a high union membership. The reality in the vast majority of cases is that turnouts in the postal ballots dictated by existing legislation are low, especially at big employers where union members are counted in hundreds of thousands. Ballot papers are often mistaken for junk mail and consigned to the bin. Under the new laws unions will spend more of their time campaigning to ensure a maximum turnout rather than negotiating a way through a dispute. Even if the strike ballot passes all the tests, the new law will insist that unions give employers two weeks’ notice of industrial action, granting management ample time to bring in strike-breaking agency staff – another tactic which will be allowed under the punitive new legal regime. One can imagine a scenario in which agency staff turn up at a workplace only to discover they have been hired to break a strike. Even if they were forewarned, temps are invariably poorly paid, on zero hours contracts with minimal rights and as a consequence reluctant to refuse the offer of work.

“

There were 114 strikes in 2013 compared with an average of 144 a year in the 2000s

Andrew Aitchison

”

The time limit on industrial action will inevitably mean that strikes will be more intense and longer before the mandate lapses and unions have to conduct another expensive ballot. Meanwhile employers might be tempted to sit on their hands until the strike vote becomes null and void. While claiming that the new rules will ‘democratise’ industrial relations, ministers won’t allow unions to mix electronic voting, independently scrutinised workplace ballots with postal balloting. The reason, of course, is that more modern methods would lead to higher turnouts. When the Tories first announced the policy last year, they said the threshold would have prevented more than twothirds of strikes called during the past four years. And yet figures published by the Office for National Statistics show stoppages are already less common than in the previous two decades. There were 114 strikes in 2013 compared with an average of 144 a year in the 2000s and 266 in the 1990s. It ill-becomes any politician, of whatever party, to draw attention to turnouts in ballots. In the General Election, the ultra-Thatcherite Business Secretary Sajid Javid, who is

theJournalist | 15

unions Fight is on for union rights

sponsoring the new labour law, was supported by just 38.3 per cent of the 74,000 people eligible to vote in his Bromsgrove constituency and his party as a whole received the backing of just 37 per cent of the electorate. Despite this – or perhaps because of it – the Conservatives are also setting out to destroy their main political opposition. Again the proposed measures over Labour party funding have a superficial reasonableness about them. It seems fair that union members should ‘opt in’ to a union’s political fund, rather than have to ‘opt out’ as they do now. The reality however is that if ministers press ahead with these plans, union donations to Labour, currently about £10 million a year, will almost certainly fall off a cliff. Predictably the Government does not envisage any restrictions on rich individuals funding the Conservative Party. Clearly the only fair system would be state funding of parties in proportion to the numbers voting for them. However, fairness is obviously not the object of the exercise. In the public sector ministers are seeking to cut off unions’ main source of income by ending ‘check-off’ – the arrangement by which employers deduct union subs from wages. Some 3.8 million workers pay their subscriptions by this method. They also plan to crack down on ‘facility time’ which allows union reps time to represent their members – and often solve problems before they become serious. And if the workforce leaps all the legal hurdles and walks out, the Government intends to extend the use of criminal law to ensure that a picket line is restricted to six people and that the union nominates a ‘supervisor’ who will be held responsible for any transgressions and could face prison. In separate proposals the Business Secretary is proposing Orwellian legislation which would place tight restrictions on the use of social media during disputes. Unions would be required to give 14 days’ notice that they intend to use Twitter, Facebook, websites and blogs during strikes. They will also have to set out what they intend to say in such postings and indicate whether they are going to use ‘loudspeakers, props, banners etc’ on picket lines. Unions would face unquantified fines if they infringed such regulations. If unions want to protest about all this, the Lobbying Act will strictly limit their ability to campaign in the run-up to general elections. The legal onslaught has provoked Unite, Britain’s biggest union, to have second thoughts about its constitution, which dictates that it will always abide by the law. Recently the words ‘so far as may be lawful’ have been removed from the rules governing the union’s actions in recognition that a Conservative government will introduce laws to prevent working people mounting a credible defence against employer abuse. Referring to the excision from Unite’s rule book, Len McCluskey, the union’s general secretary, said: “These words will go not because we are anarchists, not because we are suddenly planning a bank robbery – but because we have to ask ourselves the question, can we any longer make that commitment to, under any and all circumstances, stick within the law as it stands?” The union has said that it is still committed to ‘operating effectively’ within the law – but it is not clear whether that 16 | theJournalist

“

Unions would have to give 14 days’ notice that they intend to use Twitter, Facebook, websites and blogs during strikes

”

means they will continue to operate effectively while abiding by legislation, or, that its actions will effectively be outside the law (in other words open to legal challenge). Workers’ rights had already been under attack by the coalition. The introduction of employment tribunal fees of up to £1,200 for instance, risks making access to justice the preserve of the wealthy. Alarming Ministry of Justice figures show that the number of sex discrimination cases at tribunals has plummeted by 90 per cent. The Government gave working people a false sense of hope in the Budget by committing itself to the introduction of a statutory “living wage”. But working people will be worse off. Despite the new minimum wage – £7.20 an hour from next April – 13 million families will lose an average £260 a year because of the Budget. While there is no popular clamour for the introduction of these spiteful measures, equally people are not taking to the streets in opposition. Most electors seem to be slumbering over their Conservative-supporting newspapers, while ministers are stripping them of fundamental civil rights. Trade unionists have a number of options: obey the totalitarian legislation and await a government with a sense of justice; take legal action in the international courts over the attack on human rights; openly defy the law and risk imprisonment and penury at the hands of the courts, or covertly encourage members to take unofficial action. Barrie Clement is a former Labour Editor at The Independent.

The Trade Union Bill 2015 Ministers are refusing to allow unions to use turnout of union members a mixture of electronic will be needed for a strike voting and independently to be lawful. scrutinised workplace In ‘essential services’ the ballots in addition to strike must also be backed postal balloting in order to by 40 per cent of those increase turnouts. eligible to vote. Under the new package, This 40 per cent union members would threshold applies to key have to actively ‘opt in’ public services such as to paying the political health, transport and levy, much of which education. Currently there goes to the Labour party. is no minimum turnout Currently members have and a strike mandate to opt-out. Ostensibly the only requires a simple aim is to democratise the majority. The law will process, but it could lead make industrial action in to the impoverishment of some large public sector Labour. organisations virtually Ministers intend to impossible. impose a four month time Under the Trade Union Bill 2015 a 50 per cent

limit for taking industrial action after a ballot. There will be new restrictions on picketing which will make it a criminal offence to have seven people on a picket line. Currently the six person limit is part of civil law. A nominated union representative would be held responsible for breaches of the criminal law. The new laws would force unions to give employers 14 days’ notice of strike action and allow the employers to bring in agency workers to undermine the impact of strikes.

Q&A

What made you become a journalist? I had a passion for newspapers. I delivered them at age 10, in a fruit box with wheels made from ball bearings. At 12, I started a newspaper, The Messenger, at Sydney High School. At 17, I was a ‘copy boy’. The day I was offered a four-year cadetship on the Sydney Telegraph was one of the happiest of my life.

What advice would you give someone starting in journalism? Remember you are, or you ought to be, an agent of people, not power. Remember that established authority uses the media to lie routinely and that much of ‘mainstream’ journalism colludes with this. Reject jargon and clichés. Of all the trophies to win, the most admirable is independence.

What other job might you have done/have you done?

What advice would you give a new freelance?

I might have become a commercial artist. I used to sketch everything and everyone.

All of the above, plus learn to navigate a system that may seem monolithic, but can change with the breeze.

When did you join the NUJ and why?

Who is your biggest hero?

I joined the NUJ in the 1960s when I arrived in Fleet Street.

The ordinary people I’ve written about and filmed all over the world. My first book, ‘Heroes’, is dedicated to them.

What’s been your best moment in your career? It’s that day, long ago, when I was told I was hired as a cadet journalist. ‘When do I start?’ I asked. ‘Now’, was the reply.

And villain?

NUJ & Me

And the worst ones? Losing those with whom I travelled the world and covered wars and took risks and laughed: the great Daily Mirror photographer Eric Piper and the great documentary film director David Munro, my comrades.

John Pilger is an award-winning journalist, filmmaker and author

What is the worst place you’ve ever worked in? Apartheid South Africa.

I prefer ‘criminal’. There are many wielding unaccountable power. Tony Blair comes immediately to mind – a man largely responsible for the destruction of a country and the deaths of a million people, now enriched by the dictators he ‘advises’.

Which six people (alive or dead) would you invite to a dinner party? Martha Gellhorn, Wilfred Burchett, Medea Benjamin, Richard Prior, Larry David and Hugo Chavez.

Chico Sanchez/Alamy

And the best? ‘Best’ hardly does justice to those places where I have witnessed ordinary people triumph against the odds and liberate their lives, as in East Timor, Vietnam, Nicaragua, South Africa, Bangladesh and Palestine: the latter momentarily, yet heroically. And in the mining communities of Durham and Yorkshire where men and women of limitless courage took on a vicious, undemocratic British state. ‘Best’ describes them.

What was your earliest political thought? Plotting to subvert the wishes of my older brother. (I failed).

What are your hopes for journalism over the next five years? That journalists reject Murdochism in all its guises and support courageous whistleblowers like Julian Assange and Edward Snowdon who have done our job for us. theJournalist | 17

Trial by sousveil Rachel Broady on how secret recording is fast becoming a news form, with worrying consequences for the victims and journalism

mma West’s tight-lipped, slurring rant was watched by millions. She was filmed in secret on a tram by a fellow passenger using a mobile phone, and her two-minute racist outburst gained her immediate notoriety. The film was put on YouTube and watched more than 11 million times, triggering thousands of comments. Twitter users lined up to call for her to be arrested, and worse, using the hashtag #MyTramExperience. Piers Morgan Tweeted: “I want this woman arrested, and deported. It makes me ashamed to be British.” Newspapers were quick to report on the outburst – sharing the video of Emma and her young son online again and again. She was described as “tram rant woman”, “tram racist” alongside “mother” and “dental nurse”. The BBC described her as “the latest in a string of miscreants to meet their comeuppance due to mobile phone cameras”. Ultimately, in response to a social media outcry, and as the video was shared by the global media, the police asked for witnesses. Emma West was arrested and threatened with prison. No-one on the tram had made a complaint. These stories are now commonplace. From a Starbucks worker shouting at a customer, to a woman putting a cat in a bin or a man allegedly taking cocaine on a train – clips are uploaded to social media, then picked up by news organisations creating international, profit-making sensations from moments in people’s lives. Professor Chris Frost, chair of the NUJ’s Ethics Council, says this kind of reporting isn’t fair and accurate. “You would need to talk to the person concerned or others to get context for what was filmed. Usually this would be obvious, but then so would the fact that it was being filmed. “I think we need to handle with considerable caution video taken of people without their knowledge, even if it is in a public place. There needs to be a public interest, in the actions filmed rather than what they might represent, in order to consider using it without at least seeking comment from the person concerned.” But caution is rarely taken and comment seldom sought. Instead these videos are shared immediately, often with descriptive, judgmental copy. The videos are debated, barely authenticated and viewed across the globe before the unwitting star’s name is even revealed, if it ever is. 18 | theJournalist

Some academics argue that this form of ‘citizen journalism‘can ultimately contribute to democracy, hold authority figures to account, be they police at demonstrations or politicians caught off-guard – but others suggest that what has been dubbed “sousveillance” creates a Panopticon, a constant surveillance resulting in altered behaviour and attitudes and perhaps, ultimately, passivity. Swedish academic Dr Agneta Mallén, a sociologist studying citizen journalism, said: “Today, the Internet is the virtual local grocery store where we get news and information, and also discuss people we see. The viewers’ comments in these discussion threads can be stigmatizing and sometimes even be a kind of virtual punishment. This can be seen as a movement from punishing people behind locked doors – in prison – to a kind of public punishment.” Perhaps it is inevitable, in the fast-moving, competitive online media environment, that these videos are published without much, if any, research but this means, of course, much of the practice fails to meet the NUJ’s Code of Conduct. Can it ever be accurate or fair to report on content filmed without a person’s permission and create global news stories from that secret film without interviewing them or even approaching them for a comment? Is this kind of intrusion ever in the public interest or just clickbait at best and creating a surveillance culture at worst? Is it too late to doorstep for a comment after the video has gone viral and already

Tales of cats, coffee and cocaine Mary Bale put a cat in a wheelie bin and

her actions, filmed by private security and put on Facebook, were condemned globally. Headlines asked: “Miaow could she?” others stated: “Cruel Cat Woman Named and Shamed”. Mary needed police protection. She ultimately admitted a charge of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and was fined £250. She said stress over her dad’s illness made her act out of character. The judge said: “The media

interest in this case has resulted in you being vilified […] I have taken that into account.” A headline on The Sun’s website read:

“City worker openly snorts coke on London Underground train” within hours of a video filmed on a mobile phone being handed to the newspaper. The Daily Mail described him as well-spoken and found his friends who expressed their concern. Later named as Tom Osborne, the man was quoted from the video as

saying, “I just like taking it.” An unnamed friend said he’d had a hard time lately. British Transport Police used Twitter to request information about him. A Starbucks barista screamed at a customer. Her outburst

was secretly filmed on a mobile phone placed on Facebook with the caption “too much attitude at Starbucks”, quickly going viral. Melissa, the barista, lost her job and the woman she shouted at was given a $100 gift card.

illance

covert filming Gary Waters / Alamy

contributed to the profits of individuals and to global news organisations? Debating such videos now forms the entire – comparatively cheap – content for US web-based television stations like Right This Minute. It can generate income for new organisations and for the people who take the videos. Professor Frost adds: “Any film circulated out of context, without verification for its accuracy and without any supporting commentary is little more than a combination of art and daydream. We see the images but can’t be certain of their meaning, which in any case will be strongly affected by the sender.” What was revealed in court about Emma West, then 34, was presented too late in the press. Emma was vulnerable, having experienced severe mental health problems and, on the day she took the tram, she was very poorly. She had taken medication with a known side effect for the user to ‘present unusual ideas’. She had arrived home that day – having taken the tram in the wrong direction – and told her husband she feared she had embarrassed herself. When she saw the national news she was humiliated and distraught. Far-right parties, including Britain First and the National Front, hijacked her story, launching petitions and selling badges declaring, “Emma West Was Right”. Emma was desperate for it to go away and, by the time journalists were camped outside her home, she had twice tried to take her own life. She was at one point remanded in custody for her own safety amid threats. The person who filmed the clip and put it on YouTube was in a position to profit from it and later refused to remove it. Emma’s solicitor David Martin-Sperry said: “I don’t think that the case was fairly dealt with in the press. None of the inaccuracies were corrected. “The press was wholly misled by the National Front who had someone sitting in court and who got hold of a journalist and told them she was a friend and they supported her cause. Emma just wanted the whole thing to go away. She wanted peace and quiet. She was a prisoner in her home at one stage because the press were camped outside. “We live in an age when we need to tread carefully if we don’t have the complete information. These things have completely unintended consequences.” The use of sousveillance journalism is increasing. Barely a week passes in which a worker, a passer-by, a public transport user, isn’t filmed making a fool of themselves or being shamed for what is considered inappropriate behaviour. There is money to be made in the industry, of course but also by the individuals posting the films. A video titled Charlie Bit Me, a 58-second clip of two young boys filmed by their dad, earned £100,000 in 2007. The income is shared between the site and the film’s creator. Many articles celebrate the best-earning videos on YouTube while others outline how you too can earn cash, while YouTube itself offers a video about “turning passion into profit” by creating virals. Professor Frost said: “It is a matter of concern, especially as journalists rely more and more on amateur contributions. Local World, for instance, is intending to rely solely on such material, sifted and organised by professional editors. “The pressure will be on such editors more and more to ensure context, framing, justification and commentary.” theJournalist | 19

first person

StartingOut Lots of emails and enthusiasm helped to propel Frankie McCoy into a coveted job on the Standard

have a confession to make: I never wanted to be a journalist. Reading other people’s journalism – reading anything at all – was more my bag. That’s why I studied English Literature at university. Despite going to Oxford, known for student newspapers like the Cherwell and Oxford Student, I never troubled myself to get into student journalism. I could pretend this was because friends embroiled in that world suggested it was bitchy, nepotistic and, in the case of the Oxford Student, prone to censorship by the university itself. Those would be noble reasons for not getting involved. The truth, however, is that I was just lazy. Skip forward to the end of finals and, after the traditional bacchanalia, the harsh fact of unemployment. No work experience behind me. No contacts in any relevant field (father a retired accountant in Barbados; mother self-employed). It wasn’t promising. Then a friend re-tweeted a message from a Sunday Times journalist. He was inviting people who wanted work experience on the News Review to get in touch. In just under four minutes, I’d crafted a mildly amusing and shamelessly flattering email that, on reflection, smacked of desperation (many such sycophantic emails would ping from my outbox over the next few months). A few seconds later, my friend apologetically called to point out that the tweet was months old, the work experience window therefore closed. Oops. Yet precisely because of my inability to read dates, there were no other applicants – and a month 20 | theJournalist

real Bullingdon Club’, I scooted off to the British Library, spent an afternoon researching, and ended up writing the Diary lead in the next day’s paper.

later I embarked on two weeks at News UK’s shiny new London Bridge office. And I was hooked. “This,” I loftily announced in a fug of exhaustion after my first day, “is all I want to do.” Serendipitously, I came up with the idea for a story (about fad drink Bulletproof coffee), about which I was allowed to research and write a 600word piece, published that Sunday. With no prior journalistic experience and just five days in the office, I had an article printed in a national newspaper. My ego inflated uncontrollably. I wanted more.

his meant staying in the News UK building. A quick email down to The Times, offering my soul for further work experience, granted me another week. This I used to interrogate anyone and everyone about getting into newspapers. It was the books editor who told me about a section of the Evening Standard where “everyone does time”: the Londoner’s Diary. Why not email the editor? High on the success of previous begging emails, I fired off a message to Joy Lo Dico, regretting that as Times columnist Caitlin Moran didn’t look set to pop her clogs anytime soon, perhaps there might be a place at the Londoner’s Diary for me instead? Never underestimate the power of humour, so long as it’s mixed with a hefty dose of self-deprecation and desperation. So, to the Standard, albeit for just two days. But once again, a fortuitous chance to shine landed in my lap. Asked to investigate a tip about ‘the

“

Never underestimate the power of humour, so long as it’s mixed with a hefty dose of selfdeprecation and desperation

”

ut two days up, I was out on my ear. All very well having had a couple of stories printed, but what now? Luckily, Joy – to whom I am forever indebted – offered me work on a personal project, combined with freelancing for the Londoner’s Diary an evening or two a week. Suddenly I was spending all my time with media types. Two months of continual networking later, I was an editorial assistant at The Oldie magazine. However, whilst providing volumes of anecdote for my memoirs – The Oldie is a real bastion of old-school journalism with fascinating characters – it wasn’t the writing job I wanted. But my fairy godmother was waiting in the wings. I was still freelancing for Londoner’s Diary in the evenings when a permanent job came up, Joy put me forward. Four days of panicked anticipation and emails later, I handed in my notice at the Oldie. And now I am a diarist. At parties every night, in the office every day, battling the hangover and scrambling to find stories before the paper goes to press at 11am. Exhausting – I’m expecting to burn out by the time I’m 25, tops – but as far as I’m concerned, it is the most brilliant, pinch-myself job.

@franklymccoy

on media Raymond Snoddy on why we should fear John Whittingdale

BBC is in the hands of a teenage idealogue

elieving that Culture Secretary John Whittingdale would not be the ogre determined to “sort out” the BBC was perfectly rational. He had chaired the House of Commons Media Select Committee for years.Its stance on the BBC had been tough but balanced and surely he understood the importance of the BBC? This was entirely wrong and Whittingdale’s natural political instincts may have been held in check by chairing a multi-party committee. The depths of his ideological motivation and his misguided desire for a smaller BBC are now there for all to see. To get his way he even set up an embarrassingly rigged panel of advisors who mainly agree with his views. In a great political putdown, the Tory grandee who chaired the BBC Trust, Lord Patten, got it right by describing his former colleague as “a teenage ideologue.” Whittingdale called BBC directorgeneral Lord Tony Hall and Lord Patten’s Trust successor, Rona Fairhead, and announced as a fait accomplie that the BBC would shoulder the entire cost of up to £750 million a year of free licence fees for the over 75s. No negotiations and any balancing concessions or “mitigation” would come much later and without any guarantees in talks on renewal of the Royal Charter. According to a new book – The BBC Today: Future Uncertain – the Government only backed down on mitigation after being warned of the imminent consequences of its approach. BBC Two and BBC Four would have to close along with all

“

The depth of his ideological motivation and his misguided desire for a smaller BBC are now there for all to see

”

local radio stations plus the national radio services of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It was only then that the Government agreed to phase in the free licence fees, phase out payments of £150 million a year on broadband combined with a sort of promise to link the licence fee to retail prices but subject to a “purpose and scope” inquiry which could result in a much smaller BBC. It is a process that has greatly angered Sir Michael Lyons, the former chairman of the BBC Trust. With the help of resignation threats Sir Michael and Trust colleagues saw off both free licence fees and a “scale and scope” review but had to accept a licence fee freeze and hundreds of millions of pounds worth of new obligations including paying for the World Service. More than 2000 jobs were lost. Sir Michael believes it is an outrageous “breach of faith” that the Government accepted the savings imposed on the BBC five years ago and then returns for a second bite of the same cherry. While individual director generals say, with some justice, that the deals they accepted were the best possible in the political circumstances at the time, it is the cumulative effect that is doing great damage to the Corporation and its employees. In effect the BBC has had 10 years of cuts or great uncertainty imposed on it when the licence fee and the media activity it funds, feeds into jobs in one of the

few industries where the UK is both universally admired and competitive. The NUJ is looking at the legal implications of discrimination in favour of the over 75s over the free licences. There is also the issue of the Government, without any discussion or consultation, turning the BBC in a arm of social services. Top BBC executives seem content with the porous deal they have done. It is up to everyone else to oppose the deeply damaging plans of John Whittingdale – the teenage ideologue and worst Culture Secretary the UK has had to endure.

For the latest updates from Raymond Snoddy on Twitter go to @raymondsnoddy theJournalist | 21

arts by Amy Powell Yeates Environmental and feminist campaigning on screen, a community choir, immigration and an epic reimagining of the Trojan War in theatre are among offerings this season. There’s also human rights in art for all the family, Europe in the media and Bridget Christie’s fight for gender equality in books, and a small but perfectly formed music and arts festival in North Wales.

Suffragette Focus Features National release From 30 October The long-awaited film follows the women who drove the early feminist movement as they fought 22 | theJournalist

for their right to vote. Met with great resistance, they were driven underground and radicalised, becoming willing to sacrifice everything in their fight for equality. The film follows the story of working woman and campaigner Maud, played by Carey Mulligan. Mulligan is joined by Meryl Streep and Helena Bonham Carter in the all-star cast. www.focusfeatures.com Theatre The Choir Citizens Theatre, Glasgow 24 October-14 November Billed as a musical play, Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue fame and actor Paul Higgins have collaborated on a stage show about a group of strangers who meet weekly to rehearse in their community choir. Will their shared love of music suffice to keep the disparate group, which includes a Tory councillor and Iraq refugee, from falling apart? www.citz.co.uk

Lampedusa HighTide Festival, Aldeburgh (10-20 September) Unity Theatre, Liverpool (24 September-3 October) Critically acclaimed on its premiere at London’s Soho Theatre this summer, Lampedusa now tours the homes of the co-producing companies that put it together. Politically engaged playwright Anders Lustgarten’s play is set on the paradisal island of Lampedusa, where North Africa meets Rome. Stationed on idyllic white sands, it is Stefano’s job to pull the bodies of drowned migrants out of the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, in the bleak corners of the UK, Denise collects payday loans and hears complaints about immigration. HighTide’s artistic director Steven Atkinson directs Lustgarten’s bold play about the state of immigration. www.hightide.org.uk

email: For listings NUJ.org.uk journalist@

Iliad Carmarthenshire 21 September-3 October Mike Pearson and Mike Brookes, who received acclaim for their large-scale interpretations of The Persians and Coriolanus, will bring their trademark vision to a multimedia staging of the last weeks of the Trojan War in a theatrical staging of Christopher Logue’s War Music. www.nationaltheatrewales.org Exhibitions We are all Born Free Aberystwyth Arts Centre Until 3 October Commissioned and promoted by Amnesty International UK, this family exhibition, suitable for ages six and up, brings together commissioned

indepth

Talking about a revolution

Belarus Free Theatre marks a decade of antagonism with a fortnight-long festival Radical underground theatre company Belarus Free Theatre (BFT) has a two-week festival of performance, music and discussion to mark its 10th anniversary. The event in October, I’m with the Banned, brings together artists who

live in political freedom with those who have been banned in Belarus, Russia or Ukraine. The diverse lineup includes female Russian punk activists Pussy Riot, Belarusian punk-rockers Brutto and Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, who will play at a show in London’s Koko. The festival will include BFTacclaimed works such as Being Harold Pinter and Generation Jeans; revivals with Sarah Kane’s 4:48 psychosis and Shakespeare’s King Lear; and a new work, Time of Women. Some performances will take place in BFT’s London home, the Young Vic. Others will be held in

undisclosed locations; audiences will receive a text 24 hours before with a meeting point from which they will be guided to an unknown location – the same way in which BFT’s productions were forced to take place in their home country. If you don’t manage to catch a performance, take a look at the Ministry of Counterculture website, set up in 2015 by BFT co-artistic director Nikolai Khalezin. Khalezin’s newspapers were shut down in Belarus, but his new website aims to broaden understanding of the role the arts can play in social change.

www.youngvic.org www.moc.media/en–

simon kane

Film How to Change the World Limited release From 7 September When a group of young activists, including hippie journalists, photographers, musicians, scientists and American draft dodgers, set out to stop Richard Nixon’s atomic bomb tests in Amchitka, Alaska, they ended up creating the worldwide green movement known as Greenpeace. This is their story, drawn together by accounts from journalist Bob Hunter, who became Greenpeace’s lynchpin. Directed by Jerry Rothwell, the film comprises a weave of archive footage, interviews and animations inspired by Hunter’s comics. Keep an eye on the Facebook page for updates. www.facebook.com/ howtochangetheworldfilm

with attitude

he Some of t s to best thing h a o wit see and d al bite ic it l o p f o bit

arts works by 30 renowned children’s illustrators from all over the world, including Polly Dunbar and Hong Sung Dam. Together, they represent all the rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in a variety of unique interpretations. www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk

the reimagined space, which has been inspired by The Free Library Movement of the mid-Victorian period, will have a transformative effect for the local community. The project is delivered in partnership by Create London, Bow Arts and Newham Council. www.createlondon.org

Architecture Old Manor Park Library Romford Road, London Opens October A Grade II listed Carnegie building in East London, left vacant for three years, is now being transformed by architects Nicholas Lobo Brennan and Astrid Smitham into a publicly accessible centre incorporating artist studios and meeting spaces. It will also be home to Rabbits Road Institute, a new space designed by artists Ruth Beale and Amy Feneck, with the ambition of exploring economics creatively to investigate political, social and cultural issues. Located in an area that is significantly lacking in cultural engagement, it is hoped that

Books The Election A-Z Nicholas Jones Basil Blackwell Nick Jones is a former BBC industrial and political correspondent and one of the first journalists to write about the rise of spin in politics. An NUJ member, he is also an active campaigner for high journalistic standards. This is his fifth book on general elections and he uses his experience of reporting a dozen general elections to give insights and commentaries on governments from the Wilson and Callaghan era to the present day. Battle buses, election fixes, good and bad campaigning. All election life is here. www.nicholasjones.org.uk

The Euro Crisis in the Media: Journalistic Coverage of Economic Crisis and European Institutions Robert G Picard (ed) Put together by media economics specialist Robert G Picard, this book explores how the European press portrayed the financial and political aspects of the Euro Crisis, which produced the most significant challenge to European integration in the last 60 years. It also addresses factors that shaped news and analysis, including the roles of European leaders. www.ibtauris.com

A Book for Her Bridget Christie Cornerstone Publishing Stand-up feminist comedian Bridget Christie enjoyed sold-out gigs and a clutch of awards with her most recent show, A Bic for Her, In her new book – part-memoir, part-entertaining rant – Christie interweaves her everyday observations of being a woman with her varying comedy career spanning 12 years and the global feminist struggle. www.randomhouse.co.uk

Hear the Colour Joe Neal Choir Press Poetry Actor, writer and NUJ member Joe Neal launches his third poetry collection on September 24. The previous two collections by the North Wales born writer – Telling it at a Slant and Turn Now the Tide – were both well received. Hear the Colour focuses on childhood reflections and observations on nature. www.hearthecolour.com

Can you trust your sources? Think tanks can be valuable sources of analysis and research. But some are more open about who funds them than others. We shine a light on the most and the least transparent. Who Funds You? promotes funding transparency among UK think tanks and political campaigns. We ask organisations to publish their annual income and declare their major funders.

WhoFundsYou.org wfy-nuj-ad-half_horiz.indd 1

12/02/2015 14:00

theJournalist | 23

YourSay... inviting letters, comments, tweets

Please keep comments to 200 words maximum

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH tim ellis

How life is on the real benefits street I am an NUJ member (former BBC) and currently running the Poverty Media Unit for the national charity ‘Church Action on Poverty’. Rachel Broady’s article ‘From Cathy Come Home to Benefits Street’ and the NUJ guidelines you have printed on reporting poverty in the July/August edition of The Journalist tie in very much with our own work on challenging the negative stereotypes portrayed by some of the media. We welcome the guidelines you have given and we urge all journalists and editors who are NUJ members to adopt them. For your information (and interest) we ran a campaign alongside Channel 4’s second series of Benefits Street called Real Benefits Street (www.realbenefitsstreet.com), launching a website and You Tube channel to dispel the myths and negative stereotypes and give people living in poverty an opportunity to have their voice heard about their own experiences. Real Benefits Street also included a series of quizzes, including one on ‘Media Myths’ and another on ‘Holes in the Safety Net’ (http://realbenefits-street.com/quiz/). We welcome working with journalists and editors who adopt the NUJ guidelines when reporting on poverty, and who want to give people living in poverty a voice. Jackie Cox Poverty Media Unit Co-ordinator Church Action on Poverty

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Don’t demonise the poor nor sanctify the feckless Ms Broady omits some views in her article regarding poverty and demonisation (From Cathy Come Home to Benefits Street, July/August). Poverty is no exculpation of decency. Swathes of the working class manage to resist burning their offspring to death as the Philpotts did. Bevan said the greatest poverty of the workers in Britain was the poverty of their aspiration. Rachel ought to focus on an education system in which factory fodder no longer exist and 93 per cent cannot afford Eton or Harrow. Reality TV has given us a bear pit with which to cheer and jeer designated 24 | theJournalist

chavs. “Benefits Street” and its ilk are cheap to film, hence their popularity among the Tarquinocracy of producers. The rise of social media gave many of the voiceless a voice, and they use it. The beatification of Jade Goody can be seen as both example and warning. I assure Rachel I am more au fait with eating in soup kitchens in Britain than she is. It is laudable not to demonise the poor but one ought not to sanctify the feckless. It is as far from Mayfair to Bermondsey as it is from BedfordStyvesant to West 67th Street Ciaran Goggins Belfast

Where was the NUJ on the anti austerity march? The #EndAusterityNow march in London in June was massive – attracting many thousands of (mainly) young people to a cause of hope. Many unions were there in force – despite the disappointing lack of any TUC lead – Unite, UCU, NUT, Unison and others – but, sadly, no NUJ banners (unless somebody sneaked by). The event was on our website, and in NUJ Active – received on the day, too late to build support, but we had no rallying point. It was a real party event – different from demos in the past 40 years. It was inspiring to see so many people

Email to: journalist@nuj.org.uk Post to: The Journalist 308-312 Gray’s Inn Road London WC1X 8DP Tweet to: @mschrisbuckley

actively believe that we needn’t accept a government slowly strangling our public services – at both national and local level, despite the election. Speakers such as Owen Jones and Jeremy Corbyn MP met huge enthusiasm, when advocating campaigning and fighting for change to combat growing inequality, promoted by supposedly necessary austerity. We should have been there recruiting members. My NUJ Book Branch badge helped start conversations with young photographers and reporters interested in joining the union, whom I referred to the website. Apart from lifting my spirits, this shows how we could use such events to build our membership. Sylvia Courtnage Book Branch

Media diversity matches that of British society In reading Dominic Bascombe’s article entitled “Why does the media badly lack diversity?” in the May /June issue of The Journalist, I found myself quite puzzled by his assumptions. In his Viewpoint article, Mr Bascombe states: “Most recent figures suggest that some 94 per cent of journalists are white: a shocking figure that doesn’t come close to reflecting the wider society” In fact the figure does reflect the wider society fairly accurately. If Mr Bascombe had checked the figures he would have found that in 2011, the most recent figures I could obtain, 86 per cent of the UK’s population were white and that less than two per cent [1.9 per cent to be exact or 1.8 million, were black] To this figure can be added a further 12 per cent or so of other nonwhite races. Since white people are in such a majority its not surprising that 94 per cent of journalists are white. This figure is quite rightly roughly in keeping with British society and the population at large. Contrary to Dominic Bascombe’s comments the numbers do, in fact,

inbox fairly accurately represent the UK’s society. What a shame he didn’t do his homework before rushing into print and writing such an inaccurate, divisive and misleading piece. Donald Crighton Bournemouth and Dorset branch

Time to step up the fight for a lower pension age “Future pensioners must pay more, work longer, and receive less, whilst the Government expects to save £500 million over the next 35 years as the result of raising the state pension age.” This alarming forecast is from a pamphlet by the National Pensioners’ Convention. And it is a far cry from the vision of our trade union ancestors. Among their main demands was that after 50 years of earning a living people would be able to see out the rest of their lives on a pension big enough for a comfortable old age. This we were told would be more the case as the introduction of technology took over the boring, repetitive and uneconomic labour that had gone before. The need for less labour meant more retirement time. Pension experts also forecast that the auto-enrolment schemes are a disaster waiting to happen. The pamphlet explains all of this and is essential reading for the fight back to regain some of the ground won in over 100 years of struggle and to campaign

steve bell

to lower the pension age in Britain. For what it’s worth…Understanding the new state pension. National Pensioners Convention, 10 Melton Street, London NW1 2EJ www.npcuk.org Roy Jones Chair NUJ 60+ council

Captions can be a lesson in the blindingly obvious Further to Mike Pentelow’s letter on picture captions, they are often guilty of telling readers the obvious instead of giving further information. A photograph illustrating an overseas election, let’s say, may show a woman pushing a pram past a hoarding covered with candidates’ posters. The caption tell us: “A woman pushes a pram past a hoarding covered with election posters in the So-and-So capital”, whereas it might say, “Polls indicate that women’s votes will be a deciding factor in the So-and-So election”. A prize example of stating the obvious was on one of the business pages of The Times (my old newspaper), when a caption identified two men beaming at the camera as a company executive and – helpfully adding “right” – a bishop. Readers could have probably guessed that the one wearing a clerical collar, purple shirt and large silver cross was the ecclesiastic. Stafford Mortimer Life member Gloucestershire

twitter feed Tweet us your feedback: @mschrisbuckley

Luke Traynor (@LTraynorMirror) 04/07/2015 20:45 @NUJofficial Good magazine this week, folks. The piece on tabloid benefits ‘crime’ a worthy read. #journalism Allan Young (@allanyoung100) 17/07/2015 09:39 Good blog from @churchpoverty on recent @NUJofficial guidelines for journalists writing about poverty blog.church-poverty.org. uk/2015/07/10/a-c… James Rodgers (@jmacrodgers) 14/07/2015 11:27 In week when @TheEconomist reminded us dole only 2% of welfare, current @NUJofficial magazine good on how #journalism should cover poverty @ikeaddy 9:21 PM - 9 Jul 2015 What N Korea and aspirational reformers have in common. Great from Chris Proctor in The Journalist. Thanks to @NUJofficial @ mschrisbuckley @paulageraghty 2:33 PM - 20 Jul 2015 @mschrisbuckley @FionaOCleirigh @kunaldutta really enjoying this issue. Not sure about the RAF Ad-jobs for the boys AND British Imperialism! Marverine Cole (@TVMarv) 04/07/2015 09:48 @A_MAbbasah nice article. Good luck. You will need lots of it! Think about pursuing broadcast journalism @NUJofficial pic.twitter. com/5eEzncp1JL Rachael Grealish (@RachaelGrealish) 02/07/2015 14:47 A quick break with the newest issue of the @NUJofficial The Journalist? Don’t mind if I do! pic.twitter.com/5b60xT3dtF

the owners

theJournalist | 25

and finally

t n re e iff d ly te le p m co g in th e m so r Now fo Need to change tack? Try Marchamont Needham, says Chris Proctor

wing year he had blowing. Before the end of the follo ten a highly writ ent, agem sworn the Oath of Eng ‘Case of the hy narc -mo anti lth wea pro-Common and established Commonwealth of England Stated’ e-run newsbook stat himself as principal editor of the Oliver me beca he Mercurius Politics. In effect, position this held He ll. pbe Comwell’s Alistair Cam eing a journalist is hard enough decree a ed issu ck Mon eral Gen l for a decade, unti without having to turn your coat ed fromWriting whereby Marchamont was ‘discharg is inside out while you type. Yet this nce’. or Publishing any Publique Intellige precisely what happened to y was restored, arch Needless to say, when the mon few colleagues on the East End Life a prudent retreat a r Afte ed. our hero emerged unscath Tower Hamlets pardon and a rded months ago. After five years of the awa was he to the Netherlands, directly-elected Crown, the for council freebie cheerleading for the ing teer phle pam tical took up poli expected to enly sudd was it , man tesbury, Rah ur Shaf Lutf of Earl mayor, largely comprising attacks on the Election report on his being deposed by an ion. the leader of the Whig opposit ns of electoral y of mind. Commissioner who upheld allegatio One can only applaud such elasticit a al Farm had such t have mus ers fraud and bribery. Not since Anim mak ge ima ’s Margaret Thatcher n been required. ting mee her rapid change of editorial directio of d ahea gifts e wished for thes approach, was deputy The scribes adopted a softy-softly Nelson Mandela in 1990. Then he a to ted adap they as ty safe ter grea of e plac a years ing two seek , a party which Rahman’s downfall leader of the ANC new landscape. First reports of Mr previously she had branded on. The following were ascribed to the Press Associati a ‘typical terrorist r’. ‘Our Reporte week authorship was attributed to organisation’. It must the ting t in quit Eventually the paper felt confiden have been tricky to policy of bylines. bunker and reverting to its former explain that she had only ction, but . Hats off to a smooth change of dire called him a terrorist in a caring way compared with my h to such roac these folk still look like amateurs app rent Tony Blair had a diffe ham. He also went a ered answ journalistic hero Marchamont Ned He . ents ssm arra gnising the benefit potential emb ld shou he if under the name of Needham, reco d aske s, Thu n. stio different que . type y shad a to e s of nam e pon wea of a spar have invaded Iraq when it had no ion called d ghte deli was This splendid gent set up a publicat he mass destruction, he said yes, began penning er. pow from Mercurius Britanicus in 1643 and sein Hus to have removed Saddam the King. He -mongers in the most scurrilous satires against And imagine the Soviet message were when they , thanks was er published Charles’ private papers Hitl on -dem arch 1939 when the ing biting add eby, Nas of le batt the r afte suddenly captured to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, allegation of the one and s year e Thre s. tarie men from Berlin. com transformed into the best buddy ged up. Happily of Pravda the monarch’s tyranny later, he was ban ion edit ‘Correction: In yesterday’s weeks on the as a ‘depraved d he was released after a couple of ribe desc was German Chancellor e again. r and should erro understanding that he’d never writ ng typi a was psychopath’. This ped into bum ont cham Mar bail, on out Whilst have read ‘decent, charming and hitherto wellthe King, to whom he declared a erudite gentleman’. year he set up a pathasised concealed admiration. Later that More recently, I have greatly sym us sobriquet in a week with new publication with the marvello who s with Greek spin maestro he attacked the pean Union Euro of Mercurius Pragmaticus where the that line changed from the previously had he ol vitri with ion fact ry totle; to saying Parliamenta could stick its austerity up its Aris not appreciated, was This . arch mon the for d idea. rved rese that poverty is probably a jolly goo back to pokey. sion. It takes a deci and in 1649 he was arrested and sent rd Any fool can make an absu time to strategy. ible This period of restriction gave him sens a professional to turn it into way the wind was contemplate; and to perceive the

mark thomas

26 | theJournalist

training The media industry has never stood still. But now it is changing faster than ever. You can help to boost your chances of staying ahead of the game by increasing your skills. The NUJ offers a variety of short courses in professional subjects. Course outlines at www. nuj.org.uk/work/training. Information from training@ nuj.org.uk September – December, London Thurs/Fri 10/11 September A website for under £50 NUJ member £300, unemployed NUJ member or student, £150, GFTU affiliate £350, non-member £400 Starting Tues 15 September Teeline shorthand for beginners

NUJ member £95; students £75; non members £150. Starting Thurs 17th September Intermediate Teeline shorthand NUJ member £75; unemployed member or student £62.50; non-member £125 Fri 18 September Trade and business journalism NUJ member £175; unemployed NUJ member or student £100, GFTU affiliate £200, non- member £275 Tues 29 September Introduction to feature writing NUJ member £175; unemployed NUJ member or student £100, GFTU affiliate £200, non- member £275 Thurs 1 October Boost your income and job security NUJ member £175; unemployed NUJ member or student £100, GFTU affiliate £200, non- member £275

Thurs 15 October Adding PR to your portfolio NUJ member £175; unemployed NUJ member or student £100, GFTU affiliate £200, non- member £275 Thurs 15 October Online journalism NUJ member £175; unemployed NUJ member or student £100, GFTU affiliate £200, non-member £275 Fri 16 October Starting as a freelance NUJ member: £60; NUJ student member/unemployed member: £50; non-members/GFTU affiliate: £110 Thurs 22 October Getting started with InDesign NUJ member £175; unemployed NUJ member or student £100, GFTU affiliate £200, non- member £275 Tues 27 October Guide to court reporting NUJ member £175; unemployed NUJ member or student £100, GFTU affiliate £200, non- member £275

Fri 30 October Pitch and Deal NUJ member: £70; NUJ student member/unemployed member: £60; non-members/GFTU affiliate: £130 Mon 9 November Data Journalism NUJ member £300, unemployed NUJ member or student, £150, GFTU affiliate £350, non-member £400 Weds 11 November Backpack journalism NUJ member £175; unemployed NUJ member or student £100, GFTU affiliate £200, non- member £275 Fri 13 November Advanced InDesign NUJ member £175; unemployed NUJ member or student £100, GFTU affiliate £200, non- member £275 Tues 24 November Become a good video journalist NUJ member £175; unemployed NUJ member or student £100, GFTU affiliate £200, non- member £275

Training

classified

Advertise in The Journalist

The rate for a classified ad is £25 scc (£25 x height (cm) x columns).

To advertise Richards 10% discount fo 2contact or 3 issues. 4Melanie or more issues will be 20% discount. 01795 542417 or please email: ads@journalistmagazine.co.uk To advertise contact Joe Brooks on: Tel: 020 7657 1801 or email: joe.brooks@tenalps.com

TAX CONSULTANTS

South Africa

We are an established firm based in the City, specialising in handling the taxation and accountancy affairs of freelance journalists. Clients throughout the UK. Cape Town, 3 bedroom, luxury For further details contact: 020 7606 9787

cabin. Sleeps SOUTHWELLlog TYRRELL & CO 6-8. Own

pool and entertainment area in exclusive Constantia. From £400pw. Visit: www.iinkunilodge.co.za gordonhuxford@hotmail.com

Magazine Production...our name says it all whilst our fixed price covers it all A professional magazine page layout and production solution with cost-effective fixed page rates, designed just for you. All we need is your finalised copy, a selection of your preferred images and advertisements (we can assist here too)… and we’ll do the rest. Simple? It should be.

Financial advice for hacks from a hack and qualified financial adviser. Contact Nigel Bolitho of BV Services, authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Conduct E-mail: Bolitho@enterprise.net phone 01954 251521 fax 01954 252420

A no-nonsense magazine production service from a company whose name quite simply says it all… www.magazineproduction.com or call 01273 467579.

theJournalist | 27 Magazine Production Ad NUJ 0811.indd 1

04/08/2011 13:58

NUJ Training

Stay ahead of the game in a competitive industry Whether you want to learn to build a website, court reporting skills, turn data into a story, become a travel writer, publish a book or add PR skills to your freelance portfolio, the NUJ can help. The union’s programme of competitivelypriced training courses, tutored by experts in their fields, will improve your professional and technical skills.

“Keeping your journalism and technical skills up to date are vital in today’s fast-moving industry” Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary

Learn new professional skills: • Use your journalistic skills to add PR to your portfolio. • Get noticed by travel PRs and learn how to write engaging copy. • Put together a great feature that keeps editors returning for more. • Get started as a freelance and do deals that stick, study copyright law, finance and tax. Hone your technical expertise: • Build yourself a website that costs less than £50. • Curate and aggregate web content, add images, video and audio and master basic HTML coding. • Learn or brush up on your Teeline shorthand skills. • Become proficient in the desk-top publishing programme InDesign Courses are available to members and non-members.

Find out more about all NUJ training at www.nuj.org.uk/work/training/