Newsroom
Bosses let journalists
down on new technology
Employers are putting quality journalism under threat, by failing to put sufficient investment into the journalists who staff their multi-media newsrooms.
That's the finding of an NUJ report published today.
The Commission on Multimedia Working, established by the NUJ to investigate the implications of media convergence, has found widespread concern about the impact of new media working on journalistic standards.
The report, called Shaping the Future, follows months of consultation with journalists working across the industry. It finds that the significant sums that have been spent on new technology haven't been matched by investment in journalism.
The document welcomes the possibilities offered by the internet and media convergence, highlighting their potential to engage new audiences in lively and high quality journalism. However, it also finds that many journalists are worried about the impact they will have on their professional standards.
The report includes numerous examples provided by journalists dealing with these technologies everyday. Trends include demands to produce more content for more outlets without the provision of any extra journalistic resources, which is often felt to have a detrimental effect on quality.
NUJ General Secretary, Jeremy Dear, said: “Journalists from all sectors of the industry are excited about the possibilities but concerned about the pressures that come from under-resourced moves to multimedia working.
"What is clear is that new technology isn't to blame. The faultline is with its appropriation by short-sighted media employers. Instead of seizing the opportunity to enhance journalistic content and build and maintain quality media, many simply seize the opportunity to reduce costs and boost profits, viewing the erosion of quality journalism as a necessary sacrifice."
Helene Mulholland is NUJ rep at the Guardian/Guardian Unlimited and a member of the Commission. She was involved in striking a landmark deal on integration of print and online newsrooms.
She said: "Our deal with the Guardian shows that the move to multimedia working can be done in cooperation with journalists, rather than being imposed from above. What's clear for newsrooms everywhere is that journalism faces a bleak future unless media managers wake up to the need to invest in their most important assets: their journalists.
"The UK and Ireland have a solid reputation for quality journalism and the internet has the potential to open up our work to new audiences, both at home and abroad. We need to ensure that we maintain the standards that people expect."
Read the report online here
Add your comment
| Luckily our members have a great track record of moving with technology - but never expect them to accept every decision without questioning it. For one thing that would make them rubbish journalists.
Posted by: PJ: 6 Dec, 2007 12:31:37 |
| Phew! After months of seeing this in bits and pieces, it's great to see it all together in one nicely formatted document. I hope members think the effort was worthwhile.
Posted by: Donnacha DeLong: 6 Dec, 2007 12:05:04 |
| Keep up with technology, else you get left behind.
Posted by: Stuart: 6 Dec, 2007 12:01:19 |
| You have to move with technology, else you get left behind.
Posted by: Stuart: 6 Dec, 2007 11:55:39 |
| Comment comment
Posted by: Debbie Smith: 6 Dec, 2007 11:53:32 |
| Phew, after months of looking at his in bits and pieces, it's great to see it all, finally, in one nicely designed piece. I hope members think our efforts were worthwhile.
Posted by: Donnacha DeLong: 6 Dec, 2007 11:16:44 |
| At 72 with a life of service in hospitals and schools and, towards the end of her life, the care of my mother, I'd like to recall an event from my boyhood. I had purchased a hand press from a company called Adana. I had a cousin who worked on a paper. He said to mother, I can get John on the paper if you like but I interrupted with a whisper to mother "I can't work in printing I can't spell." You see mother was my spell checker. A long while ago but back then there was a closed shop and the rules of unions were for protection of a work force that would otherwise been taken unfair advantage of. Have things changed? No. Only the time scale of work has got so fast that those who need the union most probably really can't get to union meetings. But make no mistake. Society now has it's greatest need for the men and women of integrity and working to ethical standards. Ours are equal to or even better than those required of nurses. So where can we go to develop a future where our ethics and our standards count, and count amongst those whom we love and respect and with whom we share our living and working space? Could we support the role of the village school? (Schools nearer to home will reduce deaths on the road.) Could we revive the really local weekly paper? Would the production of a school newspaper for the whole community give a purpose to all those disenchanted youngsters who don't make it to University? To get better pay journalists could go into teaching. We know the subject of ethics, of use of language and most of us can now capture photographs which help tell our news stories. So why not offer your services? Could we even run the schools? Remind parents that the only requirement is that they see that their children are educated. It can be done outside of schools. Are not many of the journalists given early retirement just made redundant, those kind of ethically lead people who could really inspire children? Many are not their best in examination rooms. There are still a few local papers not in ownership of the big names in publishing but, while many young people and their parents have discarded the squabbling religions, most appreciate the value of honesty and careful work. So, if we are looking to the future, could it not be helpful to look back to our ancestors and see what we can learn from them. Even better, can we not look to the old folk who still enjoy life but who would love to have grandchildren to which they can pass on skills which may need to be revived as the new generations discover they can not travel long distances for the purpose of work. Over to you! John C.Gray Member 0898570 (BA Open RMN, Cert Ed.) [495 words] Posted by: John C.Gray NUJ 0898570 (BA -Open RMN Cert Ed.): 6 Dec, 2007 10:09:03 |
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