A group of thirteen concerned journalists met this lunchtime to discuss issues they face in the workplace including falling standards in news, bullying and pressure from bosses.
The fringe meeting, ‘When good bosses go bad & industrial action against progressive employers’, was organised as part of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Annual Delegates Meeting (ADM), in Southport. It is part of a process to build a forum for journalists faced with issues from their organisations.
The NUJ members attending the meeting requested that they all remain anonymous, due to fears their employers might discover their complaints.
Pressure from bosses
The main topic of the meeting was to address pressures from bosses, which sometimes came in the form of bullying.
One delegate explained a situation faced by many journalists. He said: “We are facing lots of issues incluing even bullying from bosses.
“This adds to the problems we have already as to how we are going to carry on. Loads of freelances have gone out of business and it’s very difficult to know what can be done.”
Conflict between companies and their journalists
Part of the meeting focused on the conflicting interests of news organisations and their journalists, and how speaking out about problems can threaten jobs.
One delegate explained how some news organisations enforce their news values to maximise profit.
The delegate, who had to leave due to conflict over a story, said: “What led to my departure was the organisations’ inability to determine news stories from personal stories.
“The worst thing for me is that I want to do what the organisation wants to achieve, but it conflicts with my professional judgements.”
Another delegate explained how bosses have become more demanding over the past few years. The delegate said: “I’ve got a dream job as a journalist. Generally management are quite hands off.
“But when it goes bad it’s really bad. Without any decisions with workers money is spent on other areas.”
The delegate added: “I’m not saying they’re bad people but the values they have are bosses’ values which are above ours and the trade unions concerns.”
Trusts: a better model?
However one delegate expressed satisfaction with how some of the trust-run media deal with complaints. They said: “There is opportunity with trustees to bring up problems as you must report any grievances to the trustees.
“They often do not employ many people so they can often deal with your complaints once communications have started.”
The group exchanged personal details and agreed to meet again soon to discuss possible action.
