The Journalist February March 2016 by National Union of Journalists

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www.nuj.org.uk | FEB-MArch 2016

antisocialmedia Tackling the trolls

Contents

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Main feature

14 Taking on the trolls

Dealing with the excesses of social media

e can’t ignore social media, whether we like it or not. For good or ill it is shaping our industry in many ways. Whether it is a lurch towards clickbait journalism with reporters forced to have audience targets at the forefront of their minds rather than newsgathering, or whether it is the ease in which politicians and celebrities can be reached for comment via twitter, it is a force we have to work with. But using social media can also leave journalists open to stressful and sometimes dangerous personal abuse. In our cover feature Ruth Addicott looks at how social media trolls target journalists and what you do to help prevent them getting the upper hand. And if that sounds a bit negative we have the perfect antidote – positive journalism. Rachel Broady reports on a movement that is gaining ground and aiming to redefine the traditional definitions of news and the aspirations of journalists. Meanwhile Denis MacShane, the former Labour MP and minister, looks at the old and vexed issue of Britain’s relationship with Europe and how the press lines up on the subject. It’s a timely examination, as a referendum on whether Britain should remain in Europe looks imminent. I hope you enjoy this edition of The Journalist. And whether you do or don’t please tell us and help boost our Feedback pages.

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

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News

03 FT pensions vote

Strike ballot delivers new offer

04 Further job cuts at Johnston Press

Scotsman and Yorkshire Post in frontline

05 Trinity Mirror backs down

Individual targets provoked strike votes

06 Print is last as news source

Survey shows television most popular

07 Fears for future of Scottish papers Serious risk for jobs at Glasgow titles

Features

10 Let’s go to Bristol and Bath

The joys of working in the West Country

12 Will the press deliver Brexit?

Media’s role in European referendum

18 Always look on the bright side The rise of positive journalism

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

inancial Times journalists suspended their first 24hour strike in 30 years in a dispute about pensions after the newspaper’s new owner Nikkei made a revised offer. NUJ members had returned a ballot of 92 per cent in favour of taking action over changes to the pension scheme. A strike was called after managers said there was no more room for manoeuvre. But after further talks at the conciliation service Acas, a revised offer was made. As The Journalist went to press FT staff were voting on the new offer. The proposal will: • Cap the anticipated impact on members of the previous Defined Benefit scheme at a maximum 15 per cent reduction of projected future pensions. • Provide a sum of between 40-55 per cent of salary to those most affected

as a pension contribution over four or five years. • Recognise and reward length of service with additional contributions to those who have been with the FT the longest. The proposal also removes the lower age band for Defined Contribution members with effect from 1 January 2017. This means that FT employees under age 30 will be able to make a 6 per cent contribution which will be double matched by the FT.

David Adamson / Alamy Stock Photo

FT makes new pensions offer after strike threat

The new offer came after a delegation from the FT NUJ chapel including Steve Bird, FoC, and Ursula Milton, deputy MoC went to Tokyo to lobby for support for the union’s fight over pensions at the FT. They met representatives from the Japanese press and broadcasting, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) and the International Federation of Journalists. Viewpoint page 9

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NUJ members had returned a ballot of 92 per cent in favour of taking action

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Guardian aims at 20 per cent cost cuts

uardian News & Media is to cut costs by 20 per cent, about £50 million – in an effort to break even within three years. Last year, the group, which publishes the Guardian and the Observer, lost more than £100 million. It said that a downturn in print advertising had been faster than expected and digital revenues had grown more slowly than anticipated. Over the past five years annual operating costs have reached

£268 million, an increase of 23 per cent compared with a 10 per cent growth in revenues. Chief executive David Pemsel said the new management team needed to safeguard the Guardian in perpetuity as it bridged the transition from print to digital: “Growing the cost base more than revenue is simply not sustainable.” The group’s development of a goods shed in King’s Cross into an events space has been put on hold.

express staff widen campaign

taff at The Express are petitioning MPs, faith leaders, advertisers and business leaders to highlight their plight over pay. Journalists at the newspapers owned by Richard Desmond are this year facing their eighth year without a pay rise.

The NUJ chapel at the Express Group want to get the issue raised in parliament to put pressure on Mr Desmond. A recent NUJ survey showed that staff are facing financial hardship because of the pay freeze with 29 per cent having to remortgage or move home.

in brief... Bullying still an issue at the bbc More than half of the BBC’s staff don’t believe that bullying or harassment would be tackled fairly by management. In the corporation’s annual staff survey 47 per cent said that if they experienced or saw bullying that they would be confident that taking action would result in a “fair outcome”. Only 55 per cent knew about the BBC”s whistleblowing policy. brooks’ lawyer moves to news uk The lawyer who represented Rebekah Brooks over phone-hacking has been made general counsel for News UK. Angus McBride, a partner at law firm Kingsley Napley, new will oversee all legal activity and compliance for the news organisation. today programme goes on screen Radio 4’s Today programme is to expand into video coverage. It is also to produce a TV programme called Meet the Author, hosted by former presenter Jim Naughtie and broadcast during Today on Saturday mornings and then in TV format on the BBC News Channel. daily mail raises its cover price The Daily Mail’s weekday cover price is increasing from 60p to 65p next week, its first increase in three years. The change was announced as circulation revenues in DMG Media - which comprises the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday - fell four per cent year on year in the three months to 31 December. new berkshire chief at newsquest Former Swindon Advertiser editor Dave King has taken charge of Newsquest’s Berkshire titles. King, who was also formerly deputy editor of the Southern Daily Echo, will oversee weekly titles including the Reading Chronicle, Bracknell News and Slough Observer. These were acquired by Newsquest when it bought Romanes Media Group in May 2015. theJournalist | 03

news

Johnston Press outlines plans for more job cuts

in brief... mosley family fund press regulator Impress, the alternative press regulator, will be funded almost entirely by Max Mosley’s family charity. The Alexander Mosley Charitable Trust is giving £3.8 million to cover Impress’s first four years. Mosley has campaigned for press reform since 2008 when he won damages from the News of the World over coverage of his sex life. coulson starts new pr agency Andy Coulson, former Conservative director of communications and ex-News of the World editor, is launching a corporate PR consultancy with Pitch CEO and founder Henry Chappell. The Coulson Chappell agency says it offers “discreet, strategic communication and corporate advice, from a unique perspective”. Newsweek returns to profit in europe Newsweek has made a profit in Europe, Middle East and Africa nearly two years after it was relaunched by IB Times group. The title returned with a European print edition in March 2014 two years after it was closed. IBT Media said the last quarter of 2015 was the first profitable period for Newsweek in the EMEA region.

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It is very difficult to see how the company can continue to function after yet more editorial job cuts

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Tindle sells papers to their managers

Paul Doyle/Alamy Stock Photo

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said: “Members are already stretched to cover gaps as a result of jobs not being filled last year and previous rounds of cuts. There are big concerns about the content that can realistically be produced under such straightened circumstances. The pressure to meet financial targets appears to be influencing internal decisions, alongside the slowing down of digital advertising revenue growth. We would like an open discussion with the company about why they have taken this decision and what has prompted this announcement. We need a meaningful consultation with our members about the way forward. There needs to be a proper plan. We need a strong local press with journalists able to do the job they came into it to do.”

ir Ray Tindle is selling several newspapers in London and Dorset to their managers. All the titles involved have moved towards hyper local publishing and include The View From series and Pulman’s Weekly News, South London Press, the Mercury, and the new London Weekly News titles. The South London Press, which last year celebrated its 150th anniversary, has split into nine local editions and the Mercury series into six. The View From series also publishes many local editions. They will be acquired by South London Press managing director Karen Sheppard, editor Hannah Walker and View From series founder Philip Evans. Tindle, 89, said the deal does not signal his retirement and that he continues to own nearly 200 titles around the UK.

haymarket sees a rise in profits Haymarket, the publisher whose titles include What Car?, Campaign and PR Week, has reported an 8.7 per cent rise in operating profit to £5.03 million for the financial year to the end of June 2015. The profit comes on revenue which fell to £184.3 million from £187 million. croydon guardian blocks adblockers The Croydon Guardian has barred readers from viewing its website if they have ad-blocking software installed on their computers. A message tells visitors to the website that revenue from advertising funds the paper’s journalism and that they cannot read any stories unless they disable their adblockers while viewing.

lmost 100 editorial posts are to be cut on Johnston Press titles, which include the Scotsman, Yorkshire Post and Yorkshire Evening Post, Lancashire Evening Post and Derry Journal. Jeremy Clifford, editor-in-chief, announced a staff review including cuts to newsrooms across the board. The NUJ believes 15 jobs will be at risk at production hubs in Edinburgh and Peterborough, with some jobs being transferred to Sheffield. Some 22 management jobs will go across the group. In Scotland, 32 jobs are expected to go and in Northern Ireland up to 13 editorial posts will be lost. In the north east up to 10 posts are at risk and eight in the north west. However, as there some unfilled vacancies these posts may cost towards the total. The NUJ group chapel said: “It is very difficult to see how the company can continue to function after yet more editorial job cuts. The lack of consultation also raises concerns that this could be to make short-term savings, which will ultimately be self-defeating. Newsrooms around the company are already carrying high levels of staff vacancies and we hope the company is fully aware of this.” Laura Davison, NUJ national organiser,

Union seeks change to police access

he NUJ has called for all-party support for legislation to amend the law that allows the Irish Police to secretly access phone records and without

judicial oversight. The NUJ wants the matter dealt with prior to the forthcoming election. Welcoming the decision of the Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald

to review “the law and practice” in relation to the access Séamus Dooley, Irish Secretary, noted the widespread political support for a change in the law.

Union representatives have met the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, including its chair Judge Mary Ellen Ring.

news

Trinity Mirror pulls back from its online targets

rinity Mirror has backed down from plans to force reporters to have individual online audience growth targets after several NUJ chapels voted for strike action in protest against the initiative. There will still be team targets for online audience growth and journalists will also have to have regular reviews of their performance and discuss ways in which they can build their web traffic. They will also be able to opt in to personal audience targets voluntarily. The company faced a backlash against the plan from journalists who feared it would encourage crass ‘clickbait’ style content. Union members had been concerned the individual targets would have an impact on the culture of co-operation and collaboration in the newsrooms and believed they would harm the teamwork

necessary for quality journalism. They also believed they could undermine public interest journalism and long-term investigative work, because reporters would feel under pressure to go for quick hits and populist stories. Members felt constant monitoring and raising of targets would create even greater stress when newsroom staffing is at its lowest for decades. Journalists on Trinity Mirror titles including the Daily Post in Wales, the Liverpool Echo,

Birmingham Post, Newcastle Chronicle and Manchester Evening News voted to strike in protest at the targets. Neil Benson, Trinity Mirror editorial director of regionals, confirmed that compulsory individual audience targets would be shelved. In an email to staff he said: “I am pleased to say that after constructive discussions with the NUJ, we have agreed what we believe to be a mutually acceptable way forward on audience goals. “We have agreed that individual audience goals will not be set at this stage. We will be going ahead with monthly one-toone meetings between writers and managers, to review performance over the previous month and to discuss how personal audiences can be built, using proven best practice and, where appropriate, supported by training.”

in brief...

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Members felt constant monitoring and raising of targets would create even greater stress when newsroom staffing is at its lowest for decades

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Newsquest warned over hub system

ewsquest must address problems with working practices at its production hubs to protect quality journalism and to safeguard staff, the NUJ has warned. A motion passed by the Newsquest group chapel

said the working system was flawed and put stress on staff working in the hubs and those on individual newspapers because of the huge volume of work and lack of communication between them. In January, Hold the

Front Page reported that Newsquest group production director Leighton Jones had emailed regional editors and managing directors to say that headline writing, sub-heads and straplines would “no longer be written in the copy-editing hubs”

and instead be done by local centres. But shortly afterwards other reports indicated the proposal had been shelved so that the hubs would continue to write headlines. The company has not made an official announcement.

Telegraph removes monitors under desks

he Telegraph has removed devices that monitored whether journalists were at their desks. Hours after the journalists discovered the devices, the Telegraph told staff that the monitoring was intended to help monitor energy usage and to ensure the newspaper was making the “best use of our space in the building”. But amid continuing protests, management circulated a memo saying that the under-desk sensors would be removed

immediately “in the light of feedback we have received”, though some staff had already “disarmed” them by removing the batteries.

duchess guest edits huffpost The Duchess of Cambridge is focusing on children’s mental health while guest editing the Huffington Post UK. She has campaigned against the stigma surrounding childhood mental illness, and is a patron of several related charities. She will also highlight the work done by parents, teachers, researchers and mental health professionals. first news starts cambodia appeal First News, the weekly newspaper for children, has launched an appeal to help Cambodian children go to school as it marks its 500th edition. Nicky Cox, editor of the title which has a circulation of nearly 80,000 said the appeal was devised after chief executive Sarah Thompson went to Cambodia and saw how some children were disadvantaged by the poor conditions they lived in. Times launches international app The Times and The Sunday Times has started The Times of London Weekly, an international digital app that offers a world view from London. The new app will pull together journalism from both titles in a single digital edition, published once a week on Thursdays. cardiff starts free community course The University of Cardiff has begun a free online course in community journalism taught by former BBC director of news Richard Sambrook. The course is run with FutureLearn, part of the Open University. It includes creating a website; different forms of community; and building an audience new hyperlocal for merseyside Former North Wales Daily Post editor Mark Thomas and former Press Association journalist Emma Gunby to launch a hyperlocal website in West Kirby, Merseyside. They are licensing a website model set up by freelance David Prior when he established Altrincham Today in 2014. theJournalist | 5

news in brief...

ascential to list on stock market Ascential, the business publisher and events group, is to list on the stock market in a move that could value it at more than £800 million. The firm, which changed its name from Top Right last year and was also previously called Emap, is owned by private equity group Apax and the Guardian Media Group. River launches Eat healthy magazine River, the customer publishing group, has launched a new monthly magazine called Eat Healthy. The title has a print-run of 70,000 and is being launched by River itself, rather than for a client. The magazine’s content will be shared on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. dave prentis keeps top job at unison Dave Prentis has been re-elected as general secretary of Unison, the public sector union.Voting in the ballot was Roger Bannister 16,853 (12.6 per cent); John Burgess 15,573 (11.6 per cent); Dave Prentis 66,155 (49.4 per cent); Heather Wakefield 35,433 (26.4 per cent).

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Young people go online the most to check news with 59 per cent of 16-24year-olds checking news online

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rint newspapers are now the least popular medium people use to keep abreast of news and current affairs, according to research by the communications watchdog Ofcom. The regulator’s annual news consumption study for 2015 found that 31 per cent of the population read a printed newspaper to keep informed down from 41 per cent in the previous year. The decline means that print newspapers are now the least popular medium for checking news, behind television (67 per cent), the internet (41 per cent) and radio (32 per cent). While television kept its top slot by a wide margin its popularity for news also fell from 75 per cent in 2014. Likewise radio dropped from 36 per cent in 2014. The fall in people using traditional forms of media to keep up with news was accompanied by an increase in people using mobiles to stay up to date, from 21 per cent to 25 per cent. Young people go online the most to check news with 59 per cent of 16-24-year-olds checking news online. About 50 per cent use television for news; 21 per cent use

newspapers and 23 per cent radio. The top news source in terms of reach was BBC1, which 48 per cent of those surveyed saying they used it to check news, down from 53 per cent in 2014. ITV ranks second, with 27 per cent saying they use it as a news source. The BBC website remains the third mostused news source (23 per cent) with the BBC News Channel in fourth place at 14 per cent. Facebook is the joint fifth most popular source of news in terms of reach, with Sky News, at 12 per cent. The most-used radio stations are BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 2, while the most-read newspapers are the Sun and Daily Mail.

Terrorist targets add to death toll

ast year at least 109 journalists and media staff were killed across 30 countries in targeted attacks, bombings and in crossfire incidents, according to research by the International Federation of Journalists.

ex Ukip spin doctor is cIoj president Mark Croucher, UKIP’s former head of communications, is the new president of the Chartered Institute of Journalists. Croucher was also head of media for the Europe of Freedom and Democracy group. The CIoJ said that Croucher had also been an investigative journalist and that his previous jobs “have nothing to do with Mark’s position in the CIoJ.”

Last year was particularly shaped by an increase in targeted terrorist attacks against journalists. French journalists paid a disproportionately high price when in January terrorists gunned down media workers at the French

satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris. In the United States, the killing by a disgruntled ex-employee of two former colleagues at US TV WDBJ in Virginia took place in front of a global TV audience during a live transmission.

The Americas topped the toll with 27 dead; the Middle East came second with 25 deaths; Asia Pacific was third with 21 dead; Africa was in fourth place with 19 dead and was followed by Europe with 16 killed.

Mentoring initiative for women

WENN Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo

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Print shows up last for news in Ofcom study Clynt Garnham Publishing / Alamy

daily mail looks for new chief exec The owner of the Daily Mail and Mail Online has begun a search for a new chief executive after Martin Morgan announced he is to retire at the end of this year. Morgan has been with Daily Mail & General Trust for 27 years, rising to chief executive in 2008. He will continue to be a non-executive director at subsidiary Euromoney.

omen in Journalism has launched its first mentoring scheme to provide support for selected journalists moving into senior positions. The inaugural scheme, which was launched

last month, is to pair 10 applicants with members of the WiJ committee including the co-founder Eve Pollard, the former editor of the Sunday Mirror and Sunday Express, and current committee chair Eleanor

Mills, editor of the Sunday Times magazine. Those being mentored are paired with senior journalists for a year and include women who have taken first steps into management in broadcast, print or online journalism.

conference news

Fears for the future of Scottish papers

ew cuts in journalists’ jobs at Newsquest’s Glasgow titles their future at ”serious risk”, the NUJ has warned. The cuts come as concern is growing that the ability of the country’s media to hold politicians to account is being undermined, just as Holyrood prepares to take over new powers form Westminster. Newsquest told staff at the Herald, Sunday Herald, Evening Times and The National that it would cut 20-25 jobs to save £1m – the fourth round of redundancies at the Glasgow newspapers in the past 14 months. “There now are fewer than half the journalists employed at The Herald, Sunday Herald and Evening Times compared to when Newsquest took over this historic Scottish publisher,” said NUJ Scotland organiser Paul Holleran. “Their promises to the

Competition Commission to nurture and grow the business now ring hollow. “There is a serious risk to the future of the newspapers in this stable. ”We are concerned that a further reduction in quality is inevitable as talented journalists lose their jobs and those remaining struggle with an increasing workload to gather and produce news and features that help sell

the product.“ He promised that the NUJ would fight any compulsory redundancies. Wider concerns about the condition of the Scottish media are reflected in a motion to the union’s upcoming delegate meeting. Edinburgh Freelance branch notes: “the continuing threat to the future of journalism in Scotland, which is suffering from chronic understaffing and a culture of cuts.”

in brief...

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Their promises to the Competition Commission to nurture and grow the business now ring hollow

” Elizabeth Leyden/Alamy Stock Photo

Rangers in attack on press freedom

wo Sunday Herald columnists are being strongly backed by the union after their work was axed collowing complaints from Glasgow Rangers footbll club. The union has

condemned the pulling of columns by Angela Hagerty and Graham Spiers. The union has complained to the paper’s editor. Dominic Bascombe, NUJ assistant organiser for

Scotland, said: “The NUJ has alreaady defended Angerla over bullying and harassmernt dhe has suffered for doing her job. The axing of these columns sends a message

Police snooping broke rules

olice Scotland broke data interception guidelines to track down a journalist’s sources because an officer “misinterpreted” rules, Assistant Chief Constable Ruaraidh Nicolson told a Scottish parliament committee. He admitted that a detective superintendent had warned earlier about a potential breach of the interception guidelines. The surveillance target was Eamon O Connor, who was investigating the police inquiry into the 2005 Emma Caldwell murder. The Lord Advocate has since asked police to re-investigate the murder after media reports that police dropped their case against a local suspect in favour of prosecuting four Turkish men.

that the Herald is unwilling to stand up for it contributors, and is willign to sacrifice journalists when commercial interests are involved. This is totally unacceptable.”

bbc plans online scottish channel The BBC is to launch an online TV channel for Scotland, director general Tony Hall told a Scottish parliamentary committee. He said the BBC is reviewing news services for Scotland, including a possible “Scottish Six” TV bulletin, admitting that it had been slow in adapting to the shift in political power from Westminster to Holyrood. Three countries ban new website Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE have blocked the UK-based pro-democracy news website The New Arab (Alaraby.co.uk) and its Arabic language sister title al-Araby al-Jadeed. Editor of The New Arab, Sofia Petkar, said she had been given no explanation for the ban but speculated that it could be because of its pro-democracy stance. buzzfeed censured over advertorial The Advertising Standards Authority has censured Buzzfeed UK for failing to clearly label paid-for content. An advertorial for fabric dye manufacturer Dylon in October 2015 followed the same style as independent Buzzfeed editorial. Buzzfeed UK told the ASA it followed the US site as a guide to how it labelled ads. Guardian has joint political editors The Guardian is to have a joint political editor. The role is to be shared between Anushka Asthansa, currently a senior political correspondent at Sky News, and Heather Stewart, a former Treasury researcher who is currently The Observers economics editor and was, for two years before that, its business editor.

David Robertson/Alamy Stock Photo

western morning news sunday closes The Western Morning News has closed its Sunday edition less than two years after it was launched. At the same time, the Trinity Mirror-owned title has also merged the Western Morning News and Plymouth Herald websites.

theJournalist | 7

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viewpoint Steve Bird says that unions need to lead a fight for better benefits

Workplace pensions are now under siege

orkers in Britain who will rely on state benefits in retirement will have pensions equal to just 16 per cent of their salaries on average, making them the third worst off among the wealthy nations. This reality, highlighted in recent figures from the OECD, ought to shame those politicians who claim government pension reforms are fairer to the lower paid. Add to this increases in the state pension age and plans to extend this to 67 by 2028 and the political choice being made for us is clear: work longer or see living standards plummet. But the pensions crisis is about more than just the squeeze on state benefits. It is also a battle that is being fought over who is to pay for 20 years of neglect and robbery that have left workplace pensions under siege or worth a fraction of what they need to be. It is also a social and economic time bomb, as millions of young employees face a future with underfunded pensions or with resources that will run out as they live longer. Like journalists at the BBC a few years ago, FT journalists have voted overwhelmingly (92 per cent in favour) for strike action over pensions. The attempt to close down our Final Pay (Defined Benefit) scheme will mean a big minority of staff losing up to half of their promised pensions. But our conflict has also highlighted the plight of the majority at the FT who, having joined after 2003, have had no choice but to join the company’s Defined Contribution scheme. They, like many private sector employees, have been victims of the stampede by employers away from

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Even companies such as the FT, who aren’t facing a pension deficit or a profit squeeze, can jump on the bandwagon

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the DB pension schemes that were the norm and that provided staff with a guaranteed income at the end of their careers. By forcing employees onto DC pensions, businesses save millions in contributions and millions more by getting employees to bear the risk of their pensions investments. Even companies such as the FT, who aren’t facing a pension deficit or a profit squeeze, can jump on the bandwagon. The erosion of company pensions makes for a sorry history. In the 1980s, pensions “liberalisation” by the Conservatives saw the first assault on DB pensions and led to £11billion in mis-selling claims. Robert Maxwell’s theft from Mirror group pensioners led to increased scheme costs to offset new definitions of risk. In 1997, Gordon Brown added to the pressure by cutting tax relief on pension fund dividends. Meanwhile, in the late 1990s, companies saved many millions of pounds as they stopped their pension contributions and let the stock market boom do the work. The market crash and new ways of accounting for pensions deficits heralded an allout attack on DB pensions in the 2000s. There has never been an attempt to get companies to pay back missed contributions.

These days, longer lifespans and low interest rates are cited as reasons to make employees take the risk and lose the benefits. While these are real factors, behind them stand a government and ranks of private employers queuing up to pass all the cost and responsibility for pensions on to us as individuals before we notice. It is easy for staff to be wrongfooted: pensions can be a complex subject and future benefits seem remote, but pensions are simply deferred wages and a change to your pension scheme is a wage cut, only one that you may not notice until it is too late. As trade unionists, we can provide the information our members need to make clear judgments about their future but we also need to lead the fight to improve it. There is a lot at stake. Steve Bird is FoC of the Financial Times chapel @ftnuj

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

Linda Harrison finds that the cities of Bristol and Bath are a magnet for creative industries and have a large community of journalists and writers

IStock Photo.com

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hese beautiful West Country cities both have a healthy publishing scene and are only about 13 miles apart – but they also have their own individual identities. “Bath and Bristol are both awesome cities to live and work in and are so different to each other,” says Lara Watson, editor of craft and creative lifestyle magazine Mollie Makes – published in Bristol by Immediate Media. “Bristol is positively buzzing. Every corner you turn, there’s entertaining street theatre, graffiti, a delicious foodie experience or live music. I adore this city. It’s young, vibrant and so creative. “I lived in Bath for four years… and found it so inspiring. The architecture, history and geography are so rich. Some nights I’d just walk around the Crescents and cobbled streets and soak it all up. House prices are high though, and nightlife is slim, though specialist bars are aplenty. The

Canary Gin Bar is one of my all-time favourite hangouts. “It was only when I moved to Bristol a year ago though that I realised how much friendlier and alive other cities can be.” In terms of media, Bristol is the bigger beast. Employers include BBC Bristol – one of the largest BBC offices outside London and the regional television centre for the West of England. With studios for regional news show Points West and BBC Radio Bristol, it also produces a vast array of factual, arts, feature and documentary programmes, including the Antiques Roadshow and The Hairy Bikers. The Natural History Unit is based there, making content for TV, radio and digital platforms such as Sir David Attenborough’s Life Story. ITV produces regional news from its ITV West Country studios in Bristol, although with a much smaller presence. Local World is the main newspaper employer, with offices in Bristol and Bath. The Bristol Post and Western Daily Press are based in Bristol – the playwrite Tom Stoppard started his career as a journalist at the Western Daily Press, while the late Sir Terry Pratchett was a sub-editor at the paper in the 1970s. The Bath office has three titles, including The Bath Chronicle. Immediate Media is another big employer, with a large, varied portfolio of special interest titles and several BBC magazines. News agency SWNS, formerly South West News Service, is also based in Bristol (it was recently reported to have taken over London-based National News). Meanwhile, Bristol24/7 is a publishing venture with a free monthly news, culture and listings magazine distributed across Bristol plus a news/features website. It’s a Community Interest Company and owned by shareholders. Louis Emanuel, Bristol24/7 news editor, was previously a reporter at the Bristol Post. He says: “In my last couple of years at the Post I saw quite an exciting trend develop where small, independent media began to emerge. Made in Bristol TV popped up about the same time as Bristol24/7 and the Bristol Cable and there were suddenly more people on stories which gave everyone a kick up the backside. “There’s a pretty decent camaraderie between reporters in Bristol now and plenty of competition, which is healthy.

news hub Words from the streets Bristol is a big place and there are more than enough good stories to go around. There is also good investigative stuff going on which is holding people to account again – something probably lost a bit in the wilderness years.” Freelance journalist, editor and copywriter Rin Hamburgh says Bristol has everything you’d find in a big city but with a small, community feel: “We’re always thinking outside the box and pushing the boundaries.” The city is a great place to be freelance, according to Lawrie Jones – a freelance journalist and copywriter with Bristol marketing agency Style Content (www.stylecontent.co.uk). “Bristol has a really healthy freelance scene, with many people working for themselves as journalists and copywriters, often from the collaborative workspaces dotted around the city,” says Lawrie. “Desks can be had for as little as £80 a

Where the work is BBC:

Almost 750 staff at BBC Bristol producing TV, radio and online - reporters also cover Bath. Local and regional output includes BBC Radio Bristol and BBC Points West, Inside Out and Sunday Politics West. Lots of factual programmes are produced in Bristol the Natural History Unit is based there and The Arts Unit in Bristol makes documentaries. More than 350 hours of network radio is made for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3 in Bristol annually, including Farming Today, The Food Programme, A Good Read, Any Questions? and Any Answers?

Immediate Media:

About 470 employees. The company has a wide variety of special interest content magazines – those

produced at its Bristol offices include Countryfile and Sky at Night. It also has offices in London and Manchester.

Future:

Approximately 400 employees in Bath. It also has offices in London. The media and publishing company has a portfolio of websites and magazines, including Total Film and TechRadar.

Local World:

About 160 staff in two offices. Bristol has approximately 127 employees, publishing daily papers The Bristol Post, Western Daily Press and the weekly North Somerset Mercury. The company has about 34 staff in Bath, producing the Bath Chronicle, Frome Standard and Somerset Guardian.

month. The cost of living isn’t that high here. “Freelance is a growing career choice for many, with the city’s creative hubs and bases exciting places to work. There’s a vibrant social scene with organisations like Bristol Media helping to bring together the creative community.”

aul Breeden, owner of hyperlocal newspaper the South Bristol Voice (www. southbristolvoice.co.uk) – part of a series of ten titles in the city, says: “Bristol is urban, very creative and innovative. It’s an honest and very welcoming place – the people are friendly and straightforward.” Paul, who previously worked at the Western Daily Press and is chair of the Bristol NUJ branch, adds that many TV shows are made in the city and Aardman, maker of Shaun the sheep, has its animation studio there. Louis describes Bristol as an exciting, forward-thinking city that’s on the up: “It’s where Londoners are turning for ideas, inspiration, homes and jobs. Of course, there’s another side to the coin and huge swathes of the city aren’t getting any better. It can be an oddly divided place at times. You can go for a pint for £2.10 in a local pub in one of the more rapidly changing areas and walk across the road and pay £4.90 for some craft ale in a trendy bar and not hear a Bristol accent.” Meanwhile, in Bath – a UNESCO World Heritage City, known for its stunning architecture and historic Roman Baths – the main media employer is Future. Focussing on niche magazines, it has a hefty portfolio of lifestyle titles and digital media, specialising in fields like photography, technology, music, film and games. The city also has free weekly lifestyle magazines Bath Life and Bath Magazine, plus a number of smaller book publishers and The Bath Echo, a community news and events website for Bath and its nearby villages. Freelance journalist Tim Bullamore started his journalism career at the Bath Chronicle and has lived in Bath for 20 years. Tim, a sub for The Times and obituary writer for The Times and The Daily Telegraph, says it’s a very compact city: “You go out for a pint of milk and you’re very likely to bump into people you know…an hour later you finally get home!” The area is home to lots of journalists and writers, including columnist and author Bel Mooney. Other famous residents have included former editor of The Times, the late William Rees-Mogg, who owned a house near Bath. Tim, also editor and owner of Jane Austen’s Regency World magazine, says part of Bath’s appeal to journalists is its location – trains take an hour and 30 minutes to London at peak times. “And you’re never far from beautiful countryside,” adds Tim. “Bath is surrounded by green belt. You can easily get to The Cotswolds or the Mendips. It’s a wonderful place to live and be a journalist.”

Lara Watson, editor of Mollie Makes:

“It’s a great place for kids. My brother and his young family are based in Bristol and the city has so much support and activities for youngsters.”

Rin Hamburgh, freelance journalist, editor and copywriter:

“Bristol’s location is ideal – it’s as easy to pop down to the coast for the weekend as it is to get into London so we’ve really got the best of both worlds. I’ve been here 12 years and wouldn’t dream of leaving.”

Freelance journalist Tim Bullamore:

“Bath is beautiful and there’s a lot going on, including the festivals, but it’s very expensive to live in the centre – it’s London prices.”

Freelance journalist and copywriter Lawrie Jones:

“Bristol is young and there’s always something going on that can inspire you. Whether it’s a new bar or restaurant, an exhibit or gallery or one of the many festivals across the city, there’s no chance you’ll be bored.”

theJournalist | 11

Denis MacShane looks at the media’s role in the European referendum

Will the press deliver H

ow will the press and broadcasters line up and what line will they take in the referendum on whether Britain stays in Europe? After the 1992 election defeat for Labour, the Sun famously declared “It’s the Sun Wot Won It”. Will the paper hope to re-run the headline the day after Mr Cameron’s plebiscite if voters opt for Brexit? In 1990 another legendary Sun headline “Up Yours Delors!” can be taken as the starting moment of non-stop propaganda against European integration promoted largely by the offshore owned press with the mass circulations of the tabloid Sun, News of the World and Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, the Express and Star titles and the broadsheet weight of the Telegraph and The Times as well their Sunday sisters. According to Roy Greenslade, former Fleet Street editor, now our principal commentator on the press, “For years Britain’s rightwing press has done everything in its formidable power to demean the European Union and all its works. Drip by drip by drip, the newspapers have heaped abuse on the EU, blaming every domestic ill on its policies and actions while giving it no credit whatsoever for its benefits. “The coverage of the issue has been marked by a mixture of misinformation and disinformation, replete with inaccuracy, innuendo and insincerity. But did the proprietors who encouraged their editors to campaign against the EU really want Brexit to occur? It strikes me that some, most notably Rupert Murdoch, may wish they had not and are wondering how they can do a U-turn. Hoist by their own petards, it’s going to be fascinating watching them doing a U-turn.” Greenslade may be right but there is no evidence so far of the Murdoch editors finding virtue in Europe. As Charles Bremner, the veteran Paris and Brussels correspondent of The Times noted two years ago “It’s impossible to write a news story about the EU that’s not negative anywhere these days.” The Times has appointed the energetic Bruno Waterfield as its Brussels correspondent. He was a columnist for the rightwing libertarian Spiked which regularly denounces Europe. Waterfield is an active journalist who hunts down stories that show the EU in a bad light. That’s not difficult but there’s lots of benefits for Brits who can travel, live, work freely anywhere in the EU and do business with 500 million customers without the barriers, and visas, and permits needed to live or trade with other parts of the world. The anti-EU Brussels correspondent was invented by Boris Johnson when the Daily Telegraph’s correspondent there 25 years ago. His fellow Old Etonian Brussels journalist at the time was James Landale who wrote a little ditty: “Boris told such dreadful lies It made one gasp and stretch one’s eyes” But editors in London have never questioned the flow of 12 | theJournalist

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For years Britain’s rightwing press has done everything in its formidable power to demean the European Union and all its works

”

half-truths, exaggeration and often downright lies filed from Brussels since 1990. There is a lot of idle chatter comparing the 2016 Brexit plebiscite with the 1975 referendum but in 1975 every newspaper other than the Stalinist Morning Star was in favour of Europe. The pro-Europeans outspent the No camp 12-1 compared to the millions flowing today from hedge funds and City spread betters to the Brexit camp in contrast to the underfunded In campaigns. In 2015 the combined circulation of the Eurosceptic press, dailies and Sundays, was 10,239,526. Assuming the Mirror, Guardian, Independent and I to be pro-European their circulation is 2,656,735 so in circulation terms the Europhobe press outnumber the pro-EU press 4-1. Circulation isn’t readership of course, still less on-line readership. Here the Daily Mail with 16 million on-line readers based on monthly aggregates far outweighs anyone else especially those papers behind paywalls. The Financial Times too falls into the category of off-shore owned following its sale to Nikkei, the Japanese media giant in 2015. It is balanced on the EU thought its weekly European affairs columnist, Wolfgang Munchau, is quick to chastise and find fault and has not written anything positive about the EU for some time. So will the Eurosceptic off-shore proprietors back Brexit? Bill Emmott, former editor of the Economist, argues that “In the case of Murdoch and Barclays papers, editors will likely try to get a sense once the campaign proper begins of which way their proprietor is leaning, and will lean that way themselves. The proprietor’s view will be the decisive one, certainly in Murdoch’s case. “The tricky ones to guess from the outside are the Mail titles, where Paul Dacre is so powerful and entrenched that it could be that he basically will decide, regardless of what Lord

Europe

Brexit? Rothermere thinks. He might even think of Brexit as “Dacre’s last stand”. And if any of the papers is likely to have a major influence it will be the Mail. They are the most dangerous in my view.” However Emmot goes on to make the important point that the proprietors want to be on the right side of the final outcome. “I don’t think any of Murdoch, Barclays or Rothermere will want to be on the losing side. All three would likely make their minds up once they decide whether Cameron looks like he might have a strong hand or not.” It is often taken for granted that the Guardian is proEuropean but the paper has run major pieces by Owen Jones, Sir Simon Jenkins and Paul Mason trashing the EU and in the case of Jones a call to quit the EU, perhaps the only policy the new Lochinvar of left journalism shares with Nigel Farage. Other left journalists like Mehdi Hassan or Peter Wilby of the New Statesman have said they would consider voting Out and in Wilby’s case when he was editor of the New Statesman he constantly turned down pieces on the EU which sought to counter the other main political weekly, the Spectator, which is obsessively anti-European on every page. Journalists knowledgeable about Europe are thin on the ground. And such as do exist cannot offset the overwhelming Eurosceptic tone of the broadcast media. At times the Today programme or Andrew Neill’s endless political TV programmes sound like Radio Spectator or Daily Mail Television as every cliché against Europe is repeated by presenters who have grown up with the curled lip and easy sneer of the superior mono-lingual Brit when talking about Europe in recent years. Nigel Farage is reported to have had 28 outings on Question Time since he became UKIP leader, far more than any other politician though in blatant

From yes to no in 45 years This year is referendum year as British voters take the

momentous decision on whether to support the isolationist calls from Eurosceptic Tories, Ukip and the BNP and vote to leave Europe in the In-Out referendum annnonced by David Cameron on 2013. Since the Sun’s famous “Up Yours Delors” front page 25 years ago the majority of British editors have backed Eurosceptic positions and ensured that coverage and comment has been mainly hostile. Even the Guardian has recently

run major appeals to back Brexit from one of its elder statesman columnists, Sir Simon Jenkins, and the younger rising star of left comment columns, Owen Jones. Forty years ago in the 1975 referendum, every paper bar the Morning Star, supported the In camp. Today there is a massive majority, defined by readers, of papers which is hostile to the EU. Most are owned by offshore proprietors who pay no tax to Britain. Will they maintain their hostility to Europe to the point of telling editor and

journalist to campaign in news and comment columns for a Brexit outcome? The Electoral Commission and the press supervisory bodies have been spineless in ensuring fair play and balance between the isolationist anti-EU camp and those who believe that Britain should stay in Europe. Meanwhile, the BBC refuses to publish the number of times it invites Nigel Farage onto its flagship Question Time, Any Question and major news and current TV and radio programmes.

contempt for freedom of information norms the BBC refuses to publish a list of the politicians it invites onto QT! Assuming 2016 is the year of the referendum those who oppose Brexit start with a massive disadvantage of decades of ideological anti-EU hostility by British editors and journalists. Brexit may yet be defeated but if so it will be a defeat for the way the British off-shore owned press has written about Europe in the past 25 years. Denis MacShane is a former NUJ president, Labour MP and Europe Minister. He is author of Brexit : How Britain Will Leave Europe published by IB Tauris

theJournalist | 13

Taking on the Social media is a useful tool but needs careful handling, says Ruth Addicot

eminism, football, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict… it seems any subject can trigger trolls, even writing about not having a TV. Online abuse or ‘trolling’ amongst journalists, especially female journalists, is on the rise. A survey by the NUJ and University of Strathclyde showed reporters had received death threats and ‘feared for their safety’ with more than 80 per cent saying cyber-bullying extended beyond working hours. At a discussion held by the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe) reporters told of colleagues who had closed social media accounts and stopped writing altogether after personal details were revealed online. Having a presence online is an integral part of the job, but when it comes to Twitter and other forms of social media, journalists are often on their own. In the NUJ survey, more than 80 per cent of respondents said they had not reported the abuse to the police and more than 40 per cent did not tell their employer. When Emma Barnett, women’s editor at The Telegraph, received a threat online saying a bomb had been placed outside her home, she ignored it and went to the pub. Catherine Mayer of Time magazine, who also received the threat, reported it to the police, but when she tried to give the officer details of the account (which posted the threat), he had no experience of Twitter and thought she was trying to give him some sort of code. No bombs were found and no one was charged, but it highlighted the problem of who is best equipped to deal with such a threat and how seriously you should take it. Although Twitter offers the option to block or ‘mute’ a harasser, it can be time-consuming (Times columnist, Caitlin Moran, was getting up to 50 violent/rape messages an hour) and only encourages the harasser to set up a new account. After blocking/reporting 15 people a week and confronting trolls directly on her radio show, Emma now adopts a policy of never reading below the line. “I think the best way is to ignore,” she says. “That’s not to say I don’t like it when people disagree with me, but if they prefix it with a rude word or they make it very personal in a way it doesn’t need to be, I am not going to engage with them.” 14 | theJournalist

cyber-bullying www.garyneilL.com

trolls?

Sunday Times columnist, Katie Glass, who even got abuse for writing about not having a TV, believes harassers can sometimes come across as trolls when they might “a bit inarticulately” be trying to make a point. Re-tweeting has often led to interesting discussions, she says. “I would rather re-tweet it and not feel ashamed, then other people defend you and you don’t feel so alone,” she says. “People on Twitter send things without thinking and when you make it visible they feel ashamed. By humanising the interaction online, highlighting it or engaging with them you take the sting out and often end up with people apologising because they’re human, drunk or angry. The guy who called me a c***, ended up saying sorry and asked me out for a drink, weirdly.”

razia columnist, Polly Vernon, says she feels more protected as a freelance, writing for Grazia and The Times (which are partly paid for) than she did as staff on The Observer five years ago where she was told to “grow a

thicker skin”. But she now gets bullying of a different kind from what she calls ‘middle class lady trolls’. “It’s a fantasy to think a female oriented social networking platform would eliminate these problems,” she says. “You get a different kind of grief, but anyone who went to secondary school will recognise it. It’s your worst days at school x 100.” “It isn’t trolling, but it adds up to the same thing, to quieten you down, ultimately even shut you up. It’s become received form in comment sections and on Twitter, the cheap laughs, the cruelty-enabling of that sort of discourse. That’s what goes viral. I can see newspapers actively encouraging their writers to spark that level of debate, because that’s what gets traction on their pages, that’s what makes sites sticky.” She adds: “This is one of the biggest problems facing journalists. It really is. And as far as I’m concerned, it’s the most depressing.” So what can be done? In January 2014, the NUJ won a landmark case when football supporter, David Limond, was sentenced to six months in prison and a three year non harassment order for threatening reporter, Angela Haggerty, in Glasgow. The intimidation followed an article she wrote about the financial collapse of Rangers FC. Limond described her appearance and instructed his followers to ‘hit her with everything you’ve got’. Despite the action, Angela is still getting abuse, three and a half years on. Within days of being hired by the Sunday Herald, in November, a petition appeared on change.org, calling her ‘a vile bigot’ and to be removed from the job. In January, Angela was ‘sacked’ after tweeting support for Glasgow Herald sports journalist, Graham Spiers, who was also targeted by abuse online after questioning the ‘mettle’ of the Rangers board to tackle offensive chanting. The NUJ condemned the actions of the newspaper group. For this reason, Angela has gone as public as possible exposing trolls so people, including employers can see she is a victim. theJournalist | 15

cyber-bullying

“I take this approach because I feel I have exhausted all others,” she says. “I’ve gone to the police, and while it did result in a conviction, it has not put a stop to the abuse and I found the legal process extremely stressful.” Each time she tried reporting the abuse, she says Twitter wanted proof of identity (a picture of her passport) and she felt uncomfortable with the information required. “It is not practical to deal with the volume of abuse,” she says. Despite this, Angela, like many journalists, is wary about legislation. “I see a great risk in banning speech that is offensive,” she says. “I often feel greatly conflicted about my responsibility as a journalist to free speech and the effect that speech then has on my personal and professional life.” Emma Barnett also has concerns. “What I don’t want to see happen because of this climate of hate and animosity online is that journalists start self-censoring and don’t write the polemics and pieces of commentary that need to be written,” she says. The International Federation of Journalists highlighted this issue in November saying that while many dismiss abuse as ‘freedom of speech’, it can actually inhibit that freedom and poses “a serious threat” to society. More than half of journalists questioned in the NUJ survey said cyber-bullying affected how they work. BBC journalist, Yolande Knell, said messages she received covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict made her “much more reluctant” to use social media. Polly is also using Twitter less and turned down two pieces within a fortnight because she couldn’t face the fallout. “I suspect papers throw younger, less experienced and potentially less aware writers under the wheels of all that, in the name of click bait, on an hourly basis,” she says. “I sometimes think future journalists will get work not because they’re good, talented, experienced etc, but purely because they can handle the ire.” Emma agrees it is dividing the industry: “There’s the Katie Hopkins end which is cashing in on it and going completely extreme and then the middle ground.” So how does the ‘queen of mean’ handle the ire? As a Daily Mail columnist, Katie Hopkins admits she is threatened “on a fairly regular basis”. She says: “Some threaten to rape me with a machete. Others that they are going to punch me in the face with a house brick. I don’t think it is an issue. I suspect these are weak young men and women who still live with their mum, floss their teeth with their toe nails and eat their own ear wax for breakfast.” Katie says she is “encouraged” when people want to engage in a debate – “no matter how poorly”. So what more can be done? The OSCE has called for more research and industry-wide guidelines, creating training and mentorship programmes for female journalists. The NUJ has also called on social media sites, the police and employers to take more action. Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, says: “Journalists must not be silenced by online abuse and that is why we have published guidelines to support members. As 16 | theJournalist

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Journalists must not be silenced by online abuse and that is why we have published guidelines to support members

”

Taking on the trolls?

yet there is no consensus within the industry about how the perpetrators should be tackled.” In the US, researchers have developed a tool called Trollbusters which identifies ‘troll nests’ and sends positive messages to the victim. (It won a top prize in New York, including $10,000 funding from Google). The tool was designed by Michelle Ferrier, the first female African-American columnist at the Daytona Beach News Journal who ended up quitting her job and carrying a firearm following abuse. Michelle, now Associate Dean for Innovation at the Scripps College of Communication, Ohio University, says although there are short term solutions, they do nothing to help journalists re-gain their reputations online. “Positive messaging lets targets know that someone has their back,” she says. While the UN and other countries are trying to tackle the problem, none has come up with a comprehensive strategy. “We need concerted efforts on all fronts to not only stop, but seek recourse for the targets of online harassment,” she says. In the meantime, the debate rolls on.

How to deal with abuse

• Keep a sense of perspective, remember that people who get targeted get left alone eventually.

what the abuser usually wants.

• Get support and tell people you are being targeted. If an abuser •K eep the evidence and is bombarded with if it’s on social media, responses, they are more keep reporting the abuse likely to leave you alone. to the internet service Ask friends to maintain provider (ISP) until it a firm, but non-abusive stops. Keep copies of the stance (otherwise it will reports, remind the ISP undermine your case if of their duty to remove you take it to the police). abusive comments and in the UK, refer to a •K arlin Lillington, possible infringement technology journalist of the Protection from at The Irish Times Harassment Act 1997. says: “Know your legal rights, and know what • If you feel it will help, constitutes a threat or fight back, but do not use defamatory comment.” abuse yourself. Tell the person the abuse has • Sinead O’Carroll, news to stop, and if it doesn’t, editor of Irish news use the block or ignore website, The Journal, option. If you decide not says the key is to to respond, don’t stop differentiate between posting online as this is feedback (even negative)

and trolling which should be ignored. • Ben Whitelaw, Head of Community and Digital Development for The Times and Sunday Times says: “We advise our journalists to pause and think hard about the implications of replying to any online abuse. Responding can often inflame the situation and give oxygen to a view that would blow over if ignored. In situations where the user is abusive and anonymous, there’s little to gain from trying to engage in dialogue. As hard as it is, the best policy is often to block the user or turn notifications off until the episode has passed.” For further info, visit www.nuj.org.uk

Q&A main image: mark thomas

What made you become a journalist? It was something I wanted to do having trained as a photographer

What advice would you give someone starting in journalism? Follow your instincts,feed your passions and don’t be afraid to speak your mind.

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

underground in Dunkerque. It was freezing cold, standing in four feet of water,covered in mud with a portable light,but it was fun.

I wanted to be a black cab driver in London. I also cared for physically and mentally handicapped children for a year and I acted in various TV programmes and did a nine month theatre tour of the TV show ‘Button Moon’

Which six people (alive or dead) would you invite to a dinner party? Fidel Castro, Gianfranco Zola, Jack Jones (The Trade unionist), Mike Pentelow, Peter Sellers, Charlotte Church.

When did you join the NUJ and why? I joined the NUJ 20 years ago to get support and advice when needed.I have had legal and technical support on a frequent basis.

Are many of your friends in the union? Fifty per cent of my friends are in the union, the others are from different walks of life.

2011 Getty Images, martin cintula / Alamy Stock Photo

What’s been your best moment in your career? I received The Silver Medal from the Royal Photographic Society in Bath in their annual worldwide competition in 1999 for a photo of the Prague underground. It was from a series that I exhibited. There were 4,000 entries.

What is the worst place you’ve ever worked in? I once had to photograph Tony Robinson for the Channel 4 programme Time Team 100 foot

And the best? I’ve done couple of jobs in India. What an amazing country. You can see the complete spectrum of life in a single day.

Who is your biggest hero? Che Guevara

And villain? Tony Blair

NUJ & Me Mark Thomas is a photographer and a member of the London Photographers’ Branch

What are your hopes for journalism over the next five years? I hope that the freedom of the press remains and that journalists can report on injustice and inequality without fear of reprisal

What was your earliest political thought? My Dad took me to Churchill’s funeral in 1965 and that sparked an interest.

And fears? I worry that more restrictions will be placed on Journalists.The impending Trade union Bill is an example of freedom being shackled.

How would you like to be remembered? As someone who took work very seriously, fighting against inequality and injustice but who looked on the bright side of life. theJournalist | 17

Always look on the Increasingly, journalists and their readers and viewers are calling for a more positive angle on the news, says Rachel Broady

hen Liverpool Echo editor Alastair Machray made the bold move of printing a blank front page and asked readers what they wanted the resounding response was “be more positive”. The #TellAli campaign led the local chief constable to respond: “I genuinely think the Echo believes that by being miserable so and sos you will sell more papers.” Meanwhile the boss of a local regeneration company said: “I am asking for a more balanced approach, and for the Echo to tell more positive stories so we get the whole picture about all the development, growth and new jobs we have seen in the city in recent years.” Readers said: “I love my Echo but when I’ve finished reading it, I want to slit my wrists” and “negative encourages negative. Positive encourages positive. So concentrate on positives rather than negatives”. It became clear to Machray that something had to change and the Echo said: “we accept this feedback and we will amend our mind-set accordingly”. In welcoming calls for positivity, he touched on an aspect of “constructive journalism” – a developing genre that could soon be at a newsdesk near you. Called constructive or positive journalism in the UK and solution-based in the US, it is becoming big news, not just among academics but with working journalists. Its intent is to report positively instead of focusing on negative and conflict-based stories. Producing positive news varies – from a determination to make readers smile or to change the world, from creating cheerful clickbait to creating a proactive community. London-based Positive News – which describes itself as the world’s first solution-focused newspaper, reporting on people and initiatives that are creating a just, sustainable and fulfilling world – grew from Link Up, a local newsletter which became a national magazine, founded by Shauna CrockettBurrows in the early 80s. Changing its name to Positive News in 1993 it now has a quarterly circulation of 50,000 as well as a strong online following. It also has editions in Argentina, Hong Kong and Spain and, here in the UK, is now owned by readers and journalists after it successfully ran a crowdfunding campaign this year to become the world’s first global media co-operative, raising £263,000 in 40 days and creating a new business model. It is this sort of engagement with both stories and communities and seeking change that true constructive journalism aims to foster, while challenging traditional 18 | theJournalist

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I love my Echo but when I’ve finished reading it, I want to slit my wrists

approaches to reporting and looking to the positive impact journalism can make. Amending mind-sets is at the heart of this developing genre which hopes to transform how we approach journalism – including choosing sources and interview questions – and even how we’re approached as journalists. Seán Dagan Wood, editor-in-chief at Positive News, rejects the traditional “if it bleeds it leads” approach and instead says, “if it succeeds it leads”. He said: “Trust in the media is low and that’s a shame because journalism is our most valuable, democratic asset. I think constructive journalism can be an opportunity to rebuild trust because, for us, it’s about serving the community and journalism working in the interests of that community – a community who now own us. “Most journalists don’t go into the industry wanting to shame people or to create scandals. There is so much skill in the industry and talent and potential and that’s a shame because journalism focusing on tragedy, scandal, sensationalism and violence doesn’t just affect the audience but the journalists too.” Sean also leads the Constructive Journalism Project which works to “equip journalists, media organisations and students with the knowledge and skills to practice constructive journalism”. Such focused training might be necessary in a competitive, commercial and, some might say professionally cynical, industry. Research at the University of Southampton, interviewing more than 2,000 reporters and editors, found that most considered negative news to be ‘real news’. Some psychologists argue that we are hard-wired to react to bad news. But a Canadian study last year covering 116 reporters from international news groups, found that journalists working on graphic news for long periods can suffer anxiety and depression, and even post-traumatic stress disorder. The media is increasingly questioning this news focus with more national newspaper sites – including the Daily Mirror’s “feel-good news” – creating sections dedicated to positive news with specialist staff employed to produce it. Sean said: “The media has known for a long time that people want more positive stories, the problem is its not knowing how to do that so it turned into “and finally” stories or have become clickbait of water-skiing squirrels. There has been a huge soar in demand for positive news but we’ve not always got the quality. We don’t try to create a feeling, make people smile, instead we provide accurate information to help people make informed choices, using journalistic integrity and standards but looking for the positive angles and developing techniques to engage differently.” The Trinity Mirror decision to change its ‘mind-set’ could suggest there is commercial sense in being positive and that this journalism could move beyond community press. It is, one could argue, straightforward journalism unsullied

positive news AF archive/Alamy Stock Photo

he bright side by commercial pressures, not restricted by a lack of opportunity to leave the office, one allowing journalists to be professionals and give them control over copy, perhaps challenging the sensational demands of editors, or being given the chance to investigate fully and look beyond a single event – so returning, perhaps, to the aspirations many have when they first decide to go into the profession. Freelance investigative journalist Veronique Mistiaen, who also teaches constructive practice in European and UK universities, said: “I ask people why they want to be journalists and they say they want to change things, to feel part of things, or “I want to make the world better” and when they consume the news they too feel angry and disengaged. “We’re trained to look for conflict and of course we should look at the problem but also ask what’s next and look at what we should be doing. I think as journalists we have to think about what we do, what we produce and about the impact that we want to have.” Constructive journalism seems to tap into what readers, viewers and listeners want and, significantly, what many journalists want to do but also challenges our relationship with the audience.

Those spreading the good word Many news outlets now have a section dedicated to positive news and while it’s not

all dogs on skateboards, it’s interpreted in many ways. America’s Good News, founded in 1997, Network promises a “daily source for only good news, inspiring stories and images...will make you feel uplifted, optimistic and positive about life. It recently published “Pro-Lifer Takes Flowers

to Planned Parenthood to Apologize and Say Thanks”. Huffington Post Good News offers “a spotlight on what’s inspiring, what’s positive” claiming to cover stories that most media chooses not to. It offers stories about refugees, including one who now employs other refugees, alongside appeals for blood donations after the San Bernardino shooting. Upworthy, founded in 2012, has sections

titled Being A Better Human, Citizenship and Democracy and Inspiration. It is, it says, “sensational and substantial. Entertaining and enlightening.” The Daily Mirror has a “feel-good” section intended to make you “smile, laugh and ultimately feel good” with a story about a 64-year old DJ granny with others -about heroes and good Samaritans, described as heart-warming.

theJournalist | 19

first person

StartingOut Joana Ramiro, a reporter with The Morning Star, says that she owes her inspiration to Tintin

egend goes that at a time I couldn’t yet speak properly, there I was, transfixed by the stories of a young reporter, traveling around the world, busting criminals and exposing injustice. A Belgian boy with a quiff more famous than that of Zayn Malik, a journalist called Tintin. At four I might have said I wanted to be a ballerina, but my heart likes to believe that from that very first bedtime reading moment, my professional destiny was set. This said, my journey towards journalism was a crooked one. My way in was political activism. I did plenty of campaigning as a university student around the Palestinian struggle, against closures of college departments, and supporting all sorts of workers’ issues. I joined a Marxist group and I found myself doing a hell of a lot of reading that had little to do with my degree. Still feeling undernourished, I started to write a blog with a series of pieces on what was going through my mind every week. Anything was game, from war to the X Factor. Mostly, I wrote about what was going on around me. About campus occupations against cuts, about the 2010 student movement, about Palestine and what I saw in occupied lands and refugee camps. Then 2011 came around and, in a moment of enthusiasm, I decided to go and witness the revolution taking place in the streets of Cairo. I was preparing to do a masters in Middle East Politics, I had someone to come along with me, so why not? I took cameras, notebooks and a mobile phone. 20 | theJournalist

When I got there most reporters were stuck in their hotel rooms, covering the events from their balconies. Several newspapers didn’t even have someone on the ground. With a postgrad degree, a good level of politics and international relations nous and speaking a couple of languages other than English, I started reporting from Egypt. It was a raw and accelerating experience. I interviewed people on the streets, took pictures of burnt cars and barricades, was interrogated by militarised police, and met the Independent’s Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk on Tahrir Square. I came back to London a mere days before the fall of president Hosni Mubarak feeling like I had found a purpose in life. I was doing something that made me feel like myself, or at least a hell of a lot like Tintin. Journalism is a profession for people in love with life. People who enjoy adventure and who might be a little too nosey for their own good. It’s the profession of the sneaky and the cheeky and the mischievous. Certainly not for the faint-hearted.

ince I got my job at the Morning Star I have had more people crying on my shoulder than ever before. People ask me what I write about and I usually tell them that I do all the “depressing topics” – unemployment, evictions and homelessness, deportations, poverty. And yet, I would’t have it any other way. Not because I relish other people’s misery, but because I get to tell the stories of people who otherwise would

not have their stories told. Some days it’s tough, when you meet Syrian refugees in Calais waiting to be allowed into Britain. Or when you meet young mothers in east London desperate after being made homeless on their due day. Or when you see disabled people cry as they say goodbye to state support which allowed to pay their carers and live an independent life.

“

Journalism is a profession for people in love with life. People who like people. People who enjoy adventure and who might be a little too nosey for their own good

”

very morning, while others have an extra 20 minutes snooze or a decent breakfast, I lay in bed trailing social media in search of a story. One morning recently I found a Facebook status from many years ago, when I was in a job I hated, writing for all sorts of online websites in the hope of building something of a portfolio. How far gone it all feels today, and what a lesson to learn. “Never, never, never give up”, Sunday Times Magazine editor Eleanor Mills once told me. The world of journalism is a tough one. I was incredibly lucky. From the start I had the advantages of those privileged in our society – I am white, middle class, able bodied. And yet, I still had to count on a hefty dollop of perseverance and the tenacity not to give up. It paid off, I am finally a colleague of Mr Tintin.

@JoanaRamiroUK The last Starting Out writer’s twitter handle was incorrect. It should have been @gemmasmith7667

on media Raymond Snoddy on an initiative dubbed the iTunes of news

Something that’s worth paying for

s a journalist Alexander Klöpping’s achievements have been relatively modest and decidedly nerdy. Mostly they have included writing for technology blogs in the Netherlands and tracking the latest technology issues for a Dutch tabloid newspaper. Yet, all journalists could turn out to be grateful to Klöpping and his Dutch partner Marten Blankesteijn, founders of Blendle, a digital kiosk that hopes to encourage consumers, and young adults in particular, to pay for individual articles online. The origins of the app were simple. Klöpping and Blankesteijn were struck by the fact that their friends were perfectly happy to pay for music and films online but they didn’t know a single one who had ever paid for news. They believed that journalism is worth paying for and decided to do something about it. They are at least addressing one of the cruellest dilemmas at the heart of contemporary journalism and one that has not so far been resolved successfully. What do you do about the 80-20 conundrum – the fact that more 80 per cent of the revenues of newspapers on average come from declining print sales which continue to dwarf, in financial terms, digital revenues even though they have, in the main, been rising. Of course print and digital must be judged together and the combined influence and reach of the newsbrands have never been greater. Some lucky folks such as the Daily Mail have been replacing lost print advertising with digital revenues. Worryingly, though the rate of

“

Of course print and digital must be judged together and the combined influence and reach of the newsbrands have never been greater

”

advertising growth at Mail Online last year was around 16 per cent compared to more than 40 per cent in 2014, partly influenced by the rise of the adblockers.On-line adblocking is estimated to have cost publishers more than £15 billion worldwide last year and continues to rise. Blendle, which has been called the “iTunes for news” brings together articles from many newspapers and takes small payments for giving access to individual articles in the format of each publication. Admirers talk of Blendle’s seamless transactions. Subscribers set up an account with funds and the money is automatically deducted when they open an article. Users get their money back if they only glance at a piece, and can ask for a refund within 24 hours of purchase. Charges range from about 7p for a snippet to 20p for a more substantial piece to about £1.50 for a long feature. Blendle keeps 30 per cent of the fee. Blendle has agreements with more than 120 publishers and around 650,000 people have signed up in Holland and the company has already expanded into Germany. A US launch is planned for early this year and tellingly both Axel Springer in Germany and the New York Times are investors in the start-up. Naturally Blendle also hopes to address the UK market and it would surely be worth a try. Almost everything is. Of course there are difficulties. Publishers are wary about exchanging micro-payments for whole tariff subscriptions – although Blendle also offers

subscriptions to entire publications. There are almost certainly no magic bullets to solve the structural financial problems facing the funding of quality journalism but every new potential stream of revenue is welcome. There is still an obvious need for an annual prize for innovation in the financing of newspapers in the digital world. And as Klöpping and Blankesteijn insist, quality journalism really is worth supporting and worth paying for.

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

arts by Amy Powell Yeates A revival, a UK premiere and a new play in theatre around the UK, the last chance to catch two popular exhibitions of 2015, Joyce Gould’s journey through a changing labour party and new film releases ahead of the awards season.

Monster Raving Loony Theatre Royal Plymouth To 27 February Theatre Royal Plymouth has commissioned playwright James Graham who wrote the highly successful and politically concerned plays This House and The Vote, to write a new play about the life and political exploits of musician Screaming Lord Sutch. Sutch founded the Official Monster Raving Loony Party and stood in numerous parliamentary elections between 1983-1999. The production, directed 22 | theJournalist

by Simon Stokes, promises to be a hilarious theatrical feast for the heart and mind. www.theatreroyal.com The Fifth Column Southwark Playhouse, London 24 March-16 April Hemingway’s experiences of Madrid during the Spanish civil war, with his lover Martha Gellhorn –one of the first female war correspondents – are believed to have inspired his play set in 1937, which has its UK premiere, directed by Tricia Thorns, at the Southwark Playhouse. In a hotel

during the bombardment by Franco’s artillery, two US war correspondents fall passionately in love, while the idealism of the young men who came to fight with the International Brigades is contrasted with the ruthlessness of civil war. www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk The Night Watch Manchester Royal Exchange 19 May-18 June Last year, Laura Wade’s adaptation of Sarah Waters’ risqué novel Tipping the Velvet enjoyed a successful run at London’s Lyric Hammersmith. Now,

email: For listings NUJ.org.uk journalist@

Waters’ The Night Watch gets a new reimagining for the stage, this time by playwright Hattie Naylor. Set in the late 1940s, the narrative weaves together the stories of five people recovering from the chaos of war and moves from

indepth

Made in Scotland, travelling the nation

The National Theatre of Scotland, which in recent years has brought us such successes as Black Watch, the choreographed verbatim war drama directed by John Tiffany, and Glasgow Girls, the musical about an asylum seeker-schoolgirl being deported, will be taking political theatre all over the UK this year. First up is the company’s transfer

of its trilogy of plays by Rona Munro about King James I, II and III, the Stewart kings who ruled Scotland in the tumultuous 15th century. The history play productions, directed by artistic director Laurie Sansom, were praised by audiences and critics alike in Edinburgh and London in 2014 and are now touring the country. Each play can be seen as a standalone drama, while the trio can offer audiences a broad understanding of this period

of Scottish history. The tour is currently booking until June. Also touring the country from February is the theatre’s music play I Am Thomas, which has been created in collaboration with poet Simon Armitage, inventive theatre company Told by an Idiot, the Lyceum, Edinburgh and Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse. Set in 1696 in Edinburgh, and switching also into the present day, it tells the story of Thomas Aikenhead, a likeable and outspoken university student who goes down in history as the last person in Britain to be hanged for blasphemy. Finally, The 306: Dawn, which will be performed in a transformed barn in the Perth countryside in May and June, explores the stories of three of the 306 British soldiers who were executed for desertion and mutiny during World War I. It is written by Oliver Emanuel with a new live score performed by Red Note Ensemble. www.nationaltheatre scotland.com

Manuel Harlan

Theatre The Plough and the Stars Abbey Theatre, Dublin 9 March-23 April Sean O’Casey’s provocative play famously caused riots at its Abbey opening in 1926. Now, Lyric Hammersmith artistic director and Olivier Award-winner Sean Holmes directs a timely revival at the same theatre, on the centenary of the events the play depicts. The residents of a tenement shelter from the violence sweeping through the streets amid Dublin’s 1916 Easter uprising. As a revolution that will shape the country’s future rages all around, they wonder what kind of Ireland awaits them. www.abbeytheatre.ie

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 shattered post-war Britain back into the heart of the Blitz, towards the secrets that are hidden there. www.royalexchange.co.uk Exhibitions The Crime Museum Uncovered The Museum of London Until 10 April For the first time, objects from the Metropolitan Police’s Crime Museum, previously only accessible to police officers and a small number of invited guests since its establishment in the 1870s, are on display to the public. The exhibition features evidence from some of the highest profile crime cases in recent history, including Dr Crippen, gangsters the Kray Twins, the Great Train Robbery of 1963 and the botched Millennium Dome diamond heist. www.museumoflondon.org.uk Samuel Pepys: Plague, Fire, Revolution exhibition National Maritime Museum, London Until 28 March The last chance to catch the popular exhibition – which musician and

presenter Jools Holland tweeted was the best he saw in 2015 – of materials by and about the socialite and diarist who captured the dramatic events of 17th-century London, including royal upheaval, the Great Plague, the Revolution of 1688 and the Great Fire of London. The exhibition features 200 paintings and objects from museums and galleries across the country. www.rmg.co.uk Books The Witchfinder General Joyce Gould Biteback Publishing, hbk, £25 Growing up in a Jewish family in Leeds, Joyce Gould was taken under the wing of the feisty women of the Labour Party. Following two decades of voluntary work, she was appointed

as the party’s chief woman officer before becoming director. And as discord grew within the party, she was tasked with removing the so-called Militant Tendency, which earned her the title of ‘witchfinder general’. Gould interviewed Labour Party members extensively and played a vital role in restoring a harmony to Labour that went on to make the party electable. www.bitebackpublishing.com Films Bastille Day Studiocanal National release from 19 February With the intention of making a political statement, a young woman journeys across Paris to plant a bomb on the eve of Bastille Day. But a pickpocket steals her bag and then becomes unexpectedly implicated in the explosion of the bomb next to an underground station in the city. Golden Globe-winner Idris Elba, best known for his role in the popular

television series Luther, plays the CIA agent whose mission it becomes to hunt down the suspected terrorists. James Watkins (The Woman in Black) is the director. www.studiocanal.co.uk Spotlight Entertainment One National release from 19 January The film captures the story of how investigative journalists on the Boston Globe newspaper uncovered the child molestation scandals which were happening in some Catholic churches early in the millennium. The persistent investigative ‘Spotlight’ team uncover a decade’s worth of cover ups in a variety of religious, legal and government establishments. Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams star in the film which is directed by Tom McCarthy (Meet the Parents). Spotlight has also been nominated for this year’s Golden Globes in the categories of Best Picture (Drama), Director and Screenplay. www.entertainmentone.com

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theJournalist | 23

YourSay... inviting letters, comments, tweets

Please keep comments to 200 words maximum

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH tim ellis

The myth that the old have it easy In 2006 the NUJ published guidelines on how best the media should report on issues affecting older people’s lives. A new report by NUJ 60+ (Older people need more respect in the media) shows how older people’s roles have assumed greater social and economic importance. The headlines are stark “Young tax-paying population funding, to its detriment, an ageing society”. Serious comments such as this should be matched by facts but they rarely are. The NUJ’s 60+ Council report takes this is on – here’s a taste of it. There are, it says, two big basic myths: 1) That “Old People are a Burden on Society” “The young are paying for the old now and in the future” The latest UK figures show that pensions, age-related welfare payments and health services cost £136.2 billion per year and revenues from older people add up to £175.8 billion. So older people contributed £36.6 billion a year net. 2) The old have “generous pensions” The facts are that Britain’s basic pension is worth 18 per cent of the average male earnings compared with 60 per cent of in many other European countries, One in five of the older people live below the poverty line, the majority being women. Generous? www.nuj.org.uk/rights/60-plus Roy Jones Chair NUJ 60+

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Life members who want to help? Try NUJ Extra I wonder might I be permitted to exhort colleagues of a certain vintage to join me in adding NUJ Extra to any new year charitable resolve they may be considering, those who aren’t already helping out, may I add. When I was added to the long list of Life Memberships, I visited the Dublin office of the NUJ to ask would it be possible to continue making my union contributions and obtaining a Press card only to be politely told “no”. We owe so much to the NUJ that I thought, 24 | theJournalist

while I continued working at least, I might be allowed continue contributing to NUJ coffers. Why it has taken me so long to find an answer in NUJ Extra I can’t say as, despite regularly meticulously perusing The Journalist, I had not noticed until the December issue the very prominent call for help from NUJ Extra. I think it’s a good way for life members to continue contributing financially. And why anyway, when the union awards a life membership, should it automatically discontinue accepting contributions and issuing Press cards

to lifers. Acceptance of life membership does not mean we suddenly retire and/ or stop turning a shilling. Apologies to those members who have been loyally doing their bit for NUJ Extra at www.nujextra.org.uk. I’m belatedly joining you. Ray Managh Dublin

Help record our fast disappearing profession Many press photographers were saddened by the ‘Bringing Down The Shutters’ piece in the October/

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

November magazine. For ex-staff photographers like myself there was a sense of loss as we seem to be witnessing the disappearance of our trade. It might be that staff photographers are joining the lintotype operators and compositors and are being dismissed into the bin of press history. So can I draw any retired or still practising photographers attention to a project that is seeking to preserve press photography’s story. Have a look at the website http:// www.pressphotohistory.com/ and perhaps you might like to share your experiences and preserve some our fast disappearing history. Jeff Wright Life Member Hampshire

twitter feed Tweet us your feedback: @ mschrisbuckley Andrew Bardsley (@ ABardsleyBN) 15/12/2015, 18:36 Nice to see this month’s @NUJofficial magazine covering the attacks to local news with job cuts at Newsquest NW pic.twitter. com/iuzNHBGWPp Steve Hill (@pow365) 15/12/2015, 19:20 Out now @ gemmasmith7667 is in The Journalist mag Advice to new journos: study at Westminster and join @NUJofficial pic.twitter. com/OhpZV8j9wq Luke Dray (@ LukeDrayPhoto) 15/12/2015, 22:35 Evening reading the journalist @NUJofficial pic. twitter.com/OgASL9vGj1

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NUJ General Secretary Election 2016 NUJ Vacancy The National Union of Journalists is inviting applications for the post of NUJ General Secretary. The post is subject to election by ballot of the NUJ membership every five years. It is a fulltime post based at the Union’s London Head Office working exclusively for the Union.

• Application forms and details of the terms and conditions of employment may be obtained from GSelection@nuj.org.uk or by writing to Personnel Department, National Union of Journalists, Headland House, 308-312 Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1X 8DP. • T he closing date for receipt of completed applications is noon, Tuesday 12th April 2016. • Y ou are advised to check that your membership details are up to date in order to avoid delays in receiving a ballot paper. You can do this at the NUJ website www.nuj.org.uk or by contacting the membership department on membership@nuj.org.uk

www.nuj.org.uk

steve bell

the owners

theJournalist | 25

and finally

s rd ta e p r te it w T n w o ir e th Hoist by Boastful tweets can often come before a fall, warns Chris Proctor

k Twitter was What came over her? Did she thin ld take any wou one no k private? Or did she thin hashtag the nted inve who ple notice, like the peo chose and rd reco le Boy n Susa a of for the release the looby d asse #susanalbumparty? A tag only surp eat. thes rom paper people who use #tweetf that it exists: The main trouble with Twitter is l unti ’d never heard of Sergi Guardiola le see a river, so Peop . used be to I’m and therefore it has last month, and thanks to Twitter, so they want to they want to swim. They see a car, is unlikely to hear of him again. He they want to write. drive. They see a Twitter account, the latest in a long line of Twitter’s k is God’s way bloc Ignoring the maxim that writer’s hapless victims. something – of k thin of telling you to shut up, they about four acters char Sergi is the man who had it all. For 140 into it trap anything – and then d game, he was ing a writ like It’s t. hours. Then, like a snake on the boar kfas brea r thei before they have . back to zero haiku on speed. ing football ts its Sergi was toddling along nicely, play I don’t mind when my local pub twee d in Madrid. He h beers whic me for Alcorcon, a second-tier side base tells Christmas opening hours, or and lay in a e renc diffe h trotted round a field in the morning muc e mak it has on tap. It doesn’t was good. ’t don they if tattoo parlour in the afternoon. Life e hom at sulk he could play for – I’m not going to gs – but Then Barcelona rang him and said have Old Tickety Brew’s Rabbit Doin football team ed . I do king them. Barcelona! The most celebrat drin t abou are ts twee r thei t at leas g to be a huge star, on the planet! He, Sergi, was goin get irked, though, when huge gnised as the NUJ as celebrated as Christmas, as reco companies use Twitter Off ian uranium. at the Guardian and as rich as Iran to pretend to be my re futu ht suit, a brig he sped to Catalonia with a smart chum; almost as much as . ract and a fountain pen to sign the cont I rejoice when they come pinnacle of For four hours he was a man at the unstuck. rged that two fle House his chosen career. And then it eme My favourite came from the Waf his support for Real stress’ song years previously he had tweeted the g win franchise which, follo ing Barcelona. ts had any, eren Madrid when that team was play adh its if ask to demise, tweeted g about ral this fune Bad move. And that’s the awful thin ’s ston Hou tney Whi on ‘Thoughts a footballer’s like – ter Twit on ed post there ng ethi Was som past weekend?’ It still troubles me. tattoo, it never goes away. se some link between Waffle Hou (a) it was a ’t die Despite Sergi’s protestations that and Ms Houston’s passing? She didn ’t (c) he didn they be misunderstanding (b) it was in 2013 may Or she? did snorting waffles, e else had put know the tweet existed (d) someon sponsored the funeral? for d aske he the the remarks on his profile and (e) In the same way, I struggle to see was lost. Twitter sm, noti hyp forgiveness a thousand times, all bond between McDonalds and their y enjo ’d won, Sergi, nil. you apart from suspecting that an who was . But on sing Still, he did rather better than a wom mis was d min r you gy company Cisco. burgers more if ial offic is w offered a job by US-based technolo kno will you as h whic January 4th, rushed out She rs. hou four her get e even ’t chis fran She didn World Hypnotism Day, the beefy offered me a job! eseburger Che of her interview to tweet ‘Cisco just rrry verr ng feeli are ‘You sed advi a fatty pay check Now I have to weigh the utility of #HypnotismDay’. Jose and hating me against the daily commute to San Twitter is a strange world. It reminds ‘140 d the work.’ calle ) sely (loo play of Pirandello’s gy firms are Or Sadly it appears that major technolo Characters in Search of an Author’. unt acco her on t twee verge of the aware of social media. The next on s user ion mill 232 it’s be may trouble herself was from Cisco, saying she needn’t a disaster. there any more. deciding about the job. It wasn’t

26 | theJournalist

Together we can make a difference Ten reasons why you should be in the National Union of Journalists • Protection at work • C ommitment to improving the pay and conditions of journalists • Free legal advice service • T he leading trade union in the fight for employment rights • Expert advice on copyright issues • Skilled representation at all levels • Your own national press card • Strong health and safety policies • A champion in the fight for press and broadcasting freedom • Major provider of training for journalists

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