NUJ Policy

There’s an international day of action in defence of quality journalism on Nov 5. Magazine branch should have input into it. Hence this discussion.

Often, when the NUJ campaigns on issues of quality journalism, the terms used and issued coveres heavily reflect the way news reporters work. This is partly because the NUJ has traditionally been strongest in newpapers and broadcasting.  But it also may be because many mag journalists find it hard to identify with these campaigns – like ‘Journalism Matters’ for eg. So we need to take ownership of the campaign as it relates to mag journalists – in the business and consumer sectors. And also to make it reflect the concerns of people like designers who, unlike in newspapers, are considered integral parts of the editorial team.

There aren’t any right or wrong answers, but there are some questions we could discuss.

• How does quality relate to the consumer arena? Clearly members on Heat and Pick Me Up don’t have the same problems and pressures as a local paper news desk denied resources to report their community – but there will be issues.

• Should we concentrate on pay and conditions instead of professional issues, or would we be missing a trick?

•  Is ‘convergence’ the big issue for our sector, with its problems of multi or de-skilling etc.

This has gone on far too long for an initial post, but it’s just intended to kick things off. Over to the blogosphere!