Hitting the DEC

Saturday’s Jobs Summit was hugely inspiring and set the basis for a real fight to tackle redundancies and start turning the tide against profiteering in local media.
Reports of the conference can be found at the following sites:
http://blogs.journalism.co.uk/editors/2009/01/26/nuj-jobs-crisis-summit-round-up-murdoch-and-dacre-have-brought-us-into-disrepute/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jan/26/nuj-day-of-action-newspaper-job-cuts

http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=42911&c=1

http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=1088

Picture: (c) Pete Jenkins

And no sooner had Nick Davies suggested we blow the whistle on employers cuts which damage journalism than we were on the campaign. Let us know how the cuts in your newsroom/company are damaging your ability to deliver quality media – all in total confidence.

The union’s National Executive Council met all day on Friday – discussing the jobs crisis (we gave authority for industrial action ballots at a record number of workplaces), a new recruitment strategy, the situation facing journalists in Gaza, the future of public service broadcasting and the Digital Britain report, recognition at the New Statesman, BBC pay, copyright and John McDonnell, secretary of the NUJ’s Parliamentary Group may have been banned from Parliament after his mace-wielding antics, but he’s always welcome at the NUJ. He kicked off a debate on media ownership and state aid for the media industry which is to become a major topic for the union over the coming weeks. The NEC backed plans to establish a commission to consider new business models, regulation and ownership rules.
We’ll be inviting people to participate over the next few days.

The NEC also discussed at length the tough financial climate facing the NUJ with the likelihood that membership will be hit by the redundancy crisis. Even with just a 2% year on year membership fall for the next three years the union would have a shortfall of £500,000 per annum by 2012. It means the NEC is having to look hard at how we can save money.

Today has been dominated by the DEC appeal fallout. Along with Bectu General Secretary Gerry Morrissey I have written to Mark Thompson and wrote a Tribune column on the issue. I’ve also spoken to some senior BBC journalists who are angry and feel betrayed by the decision and believe that the Balen Report – the report on BBC coverage of the conflict which the BBC are fighting to keep under wraps - is at least one driving factor in the decision.

Then I answered 94 emails – and wrote this.