Tag Archives: National Union

allmediascotland: Herald Group agrees to voluntary redundancies

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Following the National Union of Journalists’ (NUJ) submission of a list of applications for voluntary redundancy at the Scotland-based Newsquest Herald Group, all but one of the names were accepted, Allmediascotland.com reports.

Further names have now been added (which takes the total to just above 40) – and will be confirmed after a meeting between the newspaper and the NUJ on Thursday, according to Allmediascotland.

The successful applications include Ian Bruce, the defence correspondent at the Herald, and Alan Campbell, sports writer at the Sunday Herald. Full story...

NUJ Release – New Statesman doesn’t recognise union

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The National Union of Journalists reports that the New Statesman is refusing to enter negotiations with the union:

“The union wrote to the company in May last year asking for a voluntary recognition agreement to cover pay and working conditions.

“But journalists on the magazine – who are almost all NUJ members – have been told by their boss that the company won’t play ball.”

Full release…

BBC’s Paul Mason: Newsrooms offer journalists peer review that ‘pyjama bloggers’ can’t replicate

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Paul Mason, economics editor of BBC’s Newsnight and National Union of Journalist (NUJ) rep for the programme, gives some fairly frank thoughts to the union on journalism, its future and its relation to new technologies and forms of publishing in the video interview below.

“What you have to do is to try and define what the skilled class of professional journalist actually does in that world. What makes us worth employing? We are the ones who provide accurate information: we’re not going to disappear,” he says, before asking how many bloggers can be described as authoritative.


Discussing recent journalism job losses, Mason argues that this is not the result of just the recession, but has been caused by ‘deskilling and the rise of new technology’.

Accuracy, authority and the peer review mechanism of the newsroom will safeguard journalism’s future, he adds.

“A newsroom is a real-time peer review system – that bloggers in their pyjamas can’t replicate.”

Is this really the case? Mason’s views have sparked some reactions among journo-bloggers, including Kevin Anderson and Patrick Smith:

Your thoughts please.

MediaGuardian: Newsquest could face legal action over Glasgow redundancies

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Herald Group’s National Union of Journalists (NUJ) reps have hired employment lawyers following claims that staff could lose redundancy benefits if they do not either volunteer for redundancy or reapply for a position.

Last month publishers Newquest told 250 journalists and production staff they must reapply for 30-40 fewer jobs or face redundancy in 90 days.

NUJ speaks out against Met Police ‘heavy-handedness’ at Greek Embassy Protests

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Further to our blog post this morning, showing police interfering with photojournalist Marc Valleé while he was attempting to photograph protests at the Greek Embassy on Monday, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has released a statement criticising the Metropolitan Police for the way they handled media coverage of the protests outside the Greek Embassy on Monday.

The NUJ said it had received reports that ‘at least one of its members suffered physical injury as a result of their handling by the police’.

“There are clear guidelines which discuss how the police should work with the media and officers policing demonstrations need to be made aware of their responsibilities. The police know very well our concerns around cases like this and it’s simply unacceptable for our members to continue to have problems when covering protests. Such basic infringements of our members’ rights must stop,” the release said.

“Heavy-handed policing meant journalists were prevented from doing their jobs as they tried to report on the protests which took place on Monday. Photographs from the protests show the police deliberately obstructing photographers in their work and journalists have complained of being physically removed from any area from which they could document events.”

“The police must remember that they have responsibilities towards the media,” said NUJ Legal Officer Roy Mincoff, in the release. “Even where a protest is itself illegal, the media have a right to report on events and the police should not be taking action with the intention of obstructing journalists in their work,” he added.

Journalism.co.uk is following up, and will report more when further information is received.

‘A sad day for Scottish Journalism’: job cuts at Herald&Times and BBC Scotland

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All staff at Newsquest’s three Glasgow titles, the Herald, Sunday Herald and Evening Times – bar a handful of senior management roles – have been made redundant and told to reapply for their jobs in a move to cut 30-40 posts.

The announcement follows the appointment yesterday of Donald Martin as editor-in-chief across all three titles.

According to a blog post by Shaun Milne, staff have been put on 90-day notice, as part of plans to integrate the three titles. “[T]he titles will adopt a 24/7 approach from a single operation taking in the web, evening, daily and Sunday titles,” writes Milne (in reference to one of the industry’s worst kept secrets this year…)

The announcement comes as BBC Scotland said it would axe 70 jobs, including an expected 20 from news and current affairs – this figure is on top of the 96 redundancies implemented in September, a release from the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said.

The NUJ chapel at BBC Scotland has sent a letter to controller Ken MacQuarrie protesting against the proposed job losses.

In a release, Pete Wishart MP, SNP Westminster Culture spokesperson, said the cuts marked ‘a sad day for Scottish journalism’.

Commenting on the Herald&Times cuts, Wishart said:

“Any decision that threatens news coverage and quality is clearly troubling and these cut backs are a backward step by the group’s owners.

“When Newsquest acquired these newspapers they made a commitment to develop and invest in them, regrettably those words do not seem to have been backed up by investment.”

Click Liverpool: NUJ calls for inquiry into regional newspaper competition

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Mick Ricket, National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Merseyside branch chairman, has asked for an inquiry by the Competition Commission into regional newspaper ownership in the UK.

Organ Grinder: Jeremy Dear: end casualisation in war reporting

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Journalist Kate Peyton, who was killed in Somalia in 2005, was a victim of ‘the creeping casualisation of the media workforce’, argues the general secretary of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ).

Peyton agreed to work in Somalia to protect her contract with the BBC, says Dear.

“It casualisation makes people disposable and discourages dissent and caution. Staff near the end of their contracts feel they have to go to any lengths to prove their worth,” he adds.