Editors' Blog | Journalism.co.uk » strike

Debate: Will other reporters follow Tindle’s and strike over quality?

Sarah Marshall — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:42:27 +0000

Journalists at Tindle newspapers in north London are striking over the declining quality of the nine newspapers written by just three news reporters.

They complain they cannot leave the office to cover court stories, council meetings and are delivering a poor product to readers.

They are saying “enough is enough” and downing tools for a full two weeks. Nine editorial staff will walk out from Tuesday.

Tindle has said it will aim to produce the Enfield papers during the strike. Father of the chapel and features editor of the north London papers Jonathan Lovett speculated that they would do this by asking staff from other regional centres to cover.

So are the striking Tindle nine bravely leading the way to stop “churnalism” and deliver a better quality product for readers or are they standing on a picket line for two weeks only to ask the impossible of a company which has been hit by declining sales and advertising?

And, of course, cuts and declining quality is not just happening at Tindle newspapers.

It’s not just Tindle’s arts pages that are cut back, reporters who are over worked and council meetings that are ignored.

The last three years have seen cuts in regional newspapers across the country.

Jobs have been lost, subs’ posts have disappeared, production has moved way beyond the area where the spellings of councillors’ names and villages are known, football reports have been written a long way from the pitch and change pages have been reduced.

So can the quality of regional newspapers be upheld by industrial action taken by the reporters who write them? We would like to know your opinions on this issue.Similar Posts:

NUJ: Johnston Press blocks staff strike with legal action

Laura Oliver — Tue, 18 May 2010 08:12:48 +0000

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has called off planned strike action by members at Johnston Press titles scheduled for tomorrow after the publisher sought help from the High Court by claiming that it doesn’t employ any journalists, reports the NUJ.

Johnston Press spent enormous time and effort putting together a 600-page submission to prove that – despite the JP stamp on the pay slips of staff working on their titles; the JP company handbook issued to all staff; the Johnston Press plc intranet that publishes company-wide procedures including policies on grievance, disciplinary procedure and health and safety; despite the group’s claims in the annual report, in company bulletins and external publications that it employs 1,900 journalists and more than 7,000 employees – that JP “employs no journalists”.

The union will re-ballot 550 members at Johnston Press, who were due to strike in reaction to closure of a pension scheme, a group-wide pay freeze and the introduction of a new content management system.

Says NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear:

Johnston Press management’s claim that it employs no journalists would be laughable, did it not have such serious implications for industrial relations in the UK. It’s clearly part of an emerging trend amongst employers to derail democratically agreed industrial action by skilfully exploiting the anti-trade union laws. In this case, by creating a web of subsidiary companies set up as multiple employers, JP management has been able to argue at the High Court that our dispute around group-wide pay and the introduction of a new content management system across the titles is, in fact, a series of identical disputes with JP’s multiple subsidiaries.

Full story at this link…Similar Posts:

MediaGuardian: NUJ ballot suspended at Telegraph

Laura Oliver — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:02:08 +0000

NUJ members at the Telegraph Media Group have suspended their ballot for industrial action, opting to hold further talks with management.Similar Posts:

Press Gazette: Telegraph threaten injunction against staff strike ballot

Laura Oliver — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 11:03:41 +0000

Telegraph Media Group has threatened an injunction against a staff ballot proposing industrial action over recent decision to axe casual staff, which will happen from October 13.Similar Posts:

Allmediascotland: Whole of BBC could be hit by industrial action

Laura Oliver — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:01:00 +0000

The possibility of compulsory redundancy for an assistant producer at BBC Scotland has led the NUJ to raise the issue of industrial action across the whole of the BBC.Similar Posts:

EPUK: Herald&Times industrial action possible after introduction of new ‘group multimedia desk’

Laura Oliver — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 11:41:36 +0000

Glasgow-based Herald&Times newspaper group could see more industrial action after changes affecting the working conditions of both staff and freelance photographers across its titles.Similar Posts:

Press Gazette: Telegraph astonishment at proposed strike

Laura Oliver — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 11:36:02 +0000

Telegraph Media Group has expressed surprise at the NUJ’s announcement of a strike action ballot.Similar Posts:

ABC News: Fairfax staff strike over job cuts

Laura Oliver — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:50:05 +0000

Australian journalists at several Fairfax newspapers, including the Sydney Morning Herald, Melbourne-based The Age, and the Australian Financial Review will go on strike until Monday.Similar Posts:

Allmediascotland: Daily Record staff set for strike

Laura Oliver — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:19:17 +0000

Staff at Trinity Mirror title the Daily Record are to take a ballot over industrial action, because of staff shortages.Similar Posts:

Guardian: Telegraph strike threat on hold

Oliver Luft — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 09:50:32 +0000

The Telegaph’s NUJ chapel have postponed the threat of staff strike action as they wait for news of their employers plans on flexible working.

According to the Guardian, staff at the paper are again smarting from a round of quick-fire dismissals – a chapel meeting yesterday was reported as being ‘furious’ as staff railed against the treatment of colleagues.

Yet journalists decided not to do anything ahead of an NUJ meeting with Telegraph Media Group reps next week.Similar Posts:

Express Newspapers staff plan three-day strike

Laura Oliver — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:24:04 +0000

Journalists at the Express newspapers have postponed today’s planned industrial action in favour of a three-day strike starting on April 22, the Press Gazette reports.

The union has described suspension of today’s action as an ‘act of good will’ and has urged the paper’s proprietors to open up talks to avert further strikes.

The 24-hour strike planned for this Friday will go ahead, as staff continue to campaign against a pay offer of 3 per cent.Similar Posts:

Express Newspapers staff vote for strike action

Laura Oliver — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:50:05 +0000

Journalists at the Daily Express, Sunday Express and Daily Star are to undertake a series of 24-hour strikes over pay.

Strike action – scheduled for April 3, 10 and 17 – was approved at a National Union of Journalists (NUJ) meeting last night and is a reaction to ‘a below inflation pay offer’ – 3 per cent – made by the papers’ management to staff.

A statement from the NUJ also expressed concerns over owner Richard Desmond’s involvement with editorial decision making at the titles.

“We want the editors to be left to edit, free from commercial interference that puts opportunities to boost circulation ahead of journalistic integrity. Our titles need real investment, instead we face continuous rounds of budget cuts and inadequate staffing levels. Now we’re being told to take a below inflation pay offer and be grateful we’re not facing more redundancies this year – we’ve simply had enough,” said Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ President and union representative at the Express.Similar Posts:

Innovations in Journalism – AngryJournalist

Oliver Luft — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:25:20 +0000

Each week we give developers the opportunity to tell us journalists why we should sit up and pay attention to the sites and devices they are working on. This week it’s online rants about the perilous state of the news industry with AngryJournalist.com.

1) Who are you and what’s it all about?
I’m Kiyoshi Martinez. I’m a former journalist who’s now gone into government communications.

AngryJournalist.com is a simple concept. Type why you’re angry with your media job and hit “vent.”

It’s an airing of grievances, rants on the life of journalists and bitter tales from the newsroom. All the comments are moderated before posting in order to keep the site on topic.

I like to think of it as the punching bag for the news business.

2) Why would this be useful to a journalist?
Hopefully, the site helps relieve some stress. It’s probably not as helpful as professional therapy, but it’s less damaging than picking up other vices. Outside of this, I think it’s a great glimpse for newsroom managers and executives of what’s actually going on in the minds of their silently brooding employees. For all the over-the-top responses, there are kernels of truth there worth following up.

3) Is this it, or is there more to come?
There’s been some talk of others independently wanting to start up foreign-language versions of the site, which I think would be really neat, but I won’t be directly involved.

Another person is helping me with creating a widget for others to add to their blog and potentially a Facebook application. I’m considering the idea of doing a “best of today’s responses” list that will get sent out via Twitter, but I’m not sure if I really like that idea or not just yet.

I might take the time eventually to do a really thorough analysis of the responses and perhaps write something on it, but that’s further in the future. As someone who’s a nerd about data and loves to read reports, I know others might appreciate something like that.

Finally, I’m also debating if I want to add revenue-generating features to the site.

4) Why are you doing this?
It initially started as an experiment I wanted to conduct that stemmed from a variety of things I’d read, discussions I had with friends and just generally observing the industry turmoil.

I have my own opinions on the journalism industry and made up my mind to leave it, but I wanted to see the responses from those who’d been in the industry longer than me about their impressions of what’s wrong with the profession today. I was curious to know if others had thoughts echoing my own.

So, I created the site with the idea that I wanted to get the unfiltered, raw angst of the industry’s workforce in the most efficient way possible.

5) What does it cost to use it?
It’s 100 per cent free. Users will never be bombarded with advertisements while surfing the site, nor will they ever have to register, give an e-mail address or jump through any other hurdles to participate.

6) How will you make it pay?
From the beginning, I’ve made a commitment to not put advertising on the site. For me, the purpose of the site wasn’t to make money, but to provide a forum for the industry to be brutally honest with itself.

The costs associated with the site are extremely low and I consider the time spent like that of a person spending time on one of their hobbies. Plus, I see advertising as annoying and there’s increasing evidence that online display advertising is becomes less effective. I didn’t see a point in cluttering my layout and distracting from the content.

Still, this doesn’t mean I’m opposed to finding ways to cover the few costs I have and maybe make some additional cash. I’ve been toying with a few ideas.

One would involve creating a job board on the site. However, there are already several great resources for journalism jobs. I’d want to find a way to make my job board more effective and less impersonal.

Another idea is to sell merchandise. I really like the idea of AngryJournalist.com coffee mugs on the desks of reporters in newsrooms across the country. Also, T-shirts with some of the responses could be mildly entertaining.

I’m also considering writing a book based on the responses. Conceptually, I see it as part critique on the industry, part management techniques with a healthy dose of dark newsroom humour.Similar Posts: