A PR and a member of the National Union of Journalists? Surely not. Heresy some will cry. Well, I am one.
Before I get on to the editor of the Journalist debate, perhaps I'd best set out why I joined. Years ago the NUJ helped me in a contract negotiation and my membership has been kept up since then - afterall, who knows what will happen in the future. I also believe the NUJ's code of conduct for PRs is one worth upholding and that it's better to have a vibrant union movement than none at all.
I made my mind up who to vote for in the Journalist election before the NUJ Left debate came to a head and based on the following criteria:
- Do they grasp the absolute importance of new and social media to the Union?
- Did they have the vision to make Journalist a relevant and interesting publication for NUJ members?
- Did they acknowledge the breadth of the membership of NUJ from PRs to book editors?
In the statements I read as I cast my ballot, sadly, none of the candidates truly met all of the criteria - so it was always going to be a case of the least worst option.
But the NUJ Left debate has only confirmed my belief that, as the union for journalists (and wider media community), the NUJ must not compromise members' political neutrality - regardless of how much we may believe in campaigns personally. There are other organisations to support which will help bring about the changes in social justice, peace and equality many members would like to see.
The NUJ's fight should be on media freedom, workplace rights, salaries and the maintenance of a vibrant, investigative and challenging media community.
And from the PR side, it should concentrate on placing "the NUJ among those leading the fight for the highest professional and ethical standards in public relations practice" as it claims it will do in the NUJ working practices for press/public relations and information officers.
So, now I would add to my criteria that I also hope that the next editor of the Journalist creates a title which reflects these priorities.
Perhaps I should have waited to cast my vote!
Hi Don,
ReplyDeleteI really must point out that the Tories today announced that they want to roll back the advances in workplace rights we've gained from membership of the EU. And that the consolidation of the media, one of the biggest enemies of media freedom and at the root of the current problems in the media, is a result of the Thatcher years. The issues the NUJ fights on are not politically neutral - in fact, trade unions are not politically neutral - they are and always have been fundamentally of the left.
If the union were in the hands of Mark "McCarthy" Watts or some of those who spoke out against him, it would not be the union it is now or is going to be. Many of those who condemn the Left for our internationalist perspective also oppose the NUJ having PR members and/or the existence of the New Media sector, which I represent.
NUJ Left is a diverse coalition of lefties from Labour party members to anarchists like myself. It's a forum for debate and discussion about policies and issues of general concern and about how we take them forward in the union. Private Eye slagged us off for discussing Afghanistan and the BNP instead of issues of concern to journalists - the discussion on Afghanistan was on the coverage of the conflict and the difficulties independent journalists face and the discussion on the BNP was about media coverage and how our members can address it. These are issues that are of concern to members and the NUJ taking a journalist-specific point of view on these issues is no attack on the independence of our members.
Finally, if you voted for the right (or Left) candidate, then you can be assured that all of your questions will be effectively addressed, in my view.