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NUJ News

TUC Congress 2024 NUJ motions on restoring trust in the media and a campaign to improve pay and conditions for freelances were passed unanimously by delegates. 10 Sep 2024 News NUJ condemns two threats made to Sunday World journalist in Northern Ireland The Sunday World journalist was twice notified by police, in recent weeks, that dissident republicans planned to attack them. The most recent threat w... 09 Sep 2024 News

General secretary election

Laura Davison and Natasha Hirst have been endorsed to stand as candidates for the post of the NUJ’s general secretary. The 
successful candidate will succeed current general secretary Michelle  Stanistreet, who is stepping down from the role. Ballot papers will go out on Monday 16 September, with the closing date for receipt of ballot papers on Monday 7 October. Find out more 

Events

Meet the Disabled Members' Council: you are welcome to join an informal online meeting to find out what the union is doing on behalf of disabled members and discuss priorities for DM motions on Monday 16 September from 6-7pm by Zoom.  Meeting ID: 828 5740 0927/Passcode: 936284. Please note this is not an advice surgery.

Source! #CIJLOGAN symposium 2024: the Centre for Investigative Journalism on 14 &15 November at the Barbican, London, will host talks and presentations on how best to protect sources and whistleblowers, deal with government harassment and gagging orders and make the most of new investigative tools and methods. NUJ members can claim a 10 per cent discount off the £45 price by emailing [email protected], quoting "NUJ discount for Symposium 2024" on the email header. Programme and more details

Can democracy survive the crisis in the media… and what can Labour do about it? Speakers: Emily Maitlis, The News Agents; Baroness Frances O’Grady; Adam Bienkov, Byline Times; Jonathan Heawood, Public Interest News Foundation; Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana, Impress; Nathan Sparkes, Hacked Off; Tom Chivers, Media Reform Coalition. Also invited: Chris Bryant MP, Dawn Buter MP at the Hilton Hotel, room Albert 3, Liverpool, Monday 23 September, 14:00-15:30. 

Book offer 

Orwell Prize for Journalism winner Gary Younge’s book Dispatches from the Diaspora: From Nelson Mandela to Black Lives Matter is a powerful collection of journalism on race, racism and black life and death from one of the nation’s leading political voices. Go to the Faber website and quote the discount code Newsletter30 for 30 per cent off for NUJ members.

Freelance           

NUJ freelance tax seminar: Barry Kernon, of London chartered accountancy firm HW Fisher, will cover the basics of tax issues all freelances face, with an opportunity for Q&A on Thursday 10 October, 10:30-12.30. Book now.

Catch up with the podcasts and useful articles on the NUJ Dublin Freelance website.

The National Council for the Training of Journalists’ Journalism Skills Academy is offering freelance NUJ journalists a 15 per cent discount on its professional training courses. Go to the JSA website for more details and use the discount code FL15 to book a course. Check out the workshops on AI. You must be a freelance. 

The FEU Training website has a huge range of online courses and webinars to help creative freelances with their career and the business side of being self-employed.

The industry body ScreenSkills provides masterclasses, online courses and resources for creative and media freelances and information on mentoring, bursaries and funding. 

Campaigns

News Recovery Plan. A Future for News: the NUJ’s recovery plan for the news industry is the updated road map to reinvigorate the industry and sets out a bold set of measures and interventions to support and protect jobs and quality journalism. Its proposals take in the threat of generative AI and how the cost-of-living crisis has added significant additional pressure to an already beleaguered sector.

Artificial intelligence: journalism before algorithms. The NUJ’s AI campaign calls for urgent regulatory oversight to protect the integrity of journalism and journalists' rights. The NUJ will voice the concerns of members on pay, job security, and rights infringements and lobby for greater regulation.

Student recruitment: branches and chapels can promote the union to new students and ensure student members remain in the NUJ. You can find materials and tips to support your campaign on the website. 

A huge range of NUJ recruitment materials can be found on the website.

Online courses, workshops & webinars

The NUJ trade union training dates for 2024. All course outlines and learning outcomes have been updated to reflect the new hybrid ways of working and the challenges that presents for organising members. Please email [email protected] to register for our free trade union training courses.

The autumn 2024 NUJ reps' training programme features a monthly two- hour session which focuses on the structure and workings of the NUJ for new reps before they embark on the core reps' training.

 All training dates:

Trade union training All trade union training at a glance.

NUJ Training Scotland. Upcoming courses: podcasting; film editing on iDevices; data journalism; interviewing skills, investigative journalism... and more. Courses delivered by Zoom unless otherwise stated. Available for members outside Scotland. Go to the calendar and register for sessions on the NUJ Scotland training website. 

NUJ Training Wales. Go to the Welsh training website for the course calendar and a huge range of at-a-glance guides on a wide range of topics for media professionals. The next set of Fast Skills Friday cover: Win freelance work, and get the best rates; Boost your media coverage with better journalist relationships; Freelance hacks to help you get your life back; Sgiliau cyflym: y datganiad perffaith i’r wasg. On Thursday 17  October, 10.00-13.00  Learn what a comms role involves. Courses and workshops are available to members outside Wales.

Update your investigative skills. The Centre for Investigative Journalism runs a range of courses on using data to create stories and investigative journalism. Full details on the CiJ website.  

TUC Education is the one-stop-shop for training and resources for reps and activists.

Social media

Keep up with the latest breaking news, campaigns, solidarity events and more from the NUJ campaigns team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

TUC training/webinars/events

• TUC Congress - 8-11 September, Brighton
• Unionreps Connect 2024: free TUC event in London for reps on Tuesday 15 October. More information on the the TUC website.

Full TUC events programme.

NUJ achieves historic union recognition at Press Association: the story of PA gaining recognition is celebrated as a case study on the TUC website.

Resources for reps: All the TUC's  resources, research, training and new content on sexual harassment are available in one section on the TUC website. Updates on equality law: the recording and the slides from the TUC webinar for reps on the Equality Act 2010.

Appeals

The IFJ’s safety fund is providing vital equipment and medical packs for journalists in Gaza and supports journalists across the globe.

The NUJ’s George Viner Memorial Award provides bursaries for black and minority ethnic students.

NUJ extra helps members and their dependents who have fallen on hard times.

Awards & bursaries 

Women in Journalism’s Georgina Henry Award, worth £4,000, in memory of the Guardian journalist, recognises innovation through new ideas or principles. Entries can include video, audio, and written journalism. The deadline is Friday 20 September. Find out more

Submissions are open for the 2024 WEVAW awards which recognise and reward journalists, writers and content creators across the UK who raise awareness of gender inequality and Violence Against Women and Girls. The deadline for entries is Saturday 30 September. Find out more.

The €5,000 Shireen Abu Akleh award has been launched by the International Federation of Journalists and the International Francophone Press Union to recognise the bravery and determination of women journalists, and is named to commemorate Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, killed in the Jenin refugee camp while reporting live on 11 May 2022.  The deadline for submissions is Tuesday 15 October. Find out more.

Research

I am Aliya Hamid Rao, an LSE researcher, working on a project about redundancies in journalism. I am interviewing journalists who have been made redundant (or taken voluntary redundancy) in the past 12 months about their experiences. The interviews will be confidential and anonymous and take at least 90 mins (I am happy to come meet you at a location of your choice). I will provide a £50 honorarium for your participation. Please email me at: [email protected]. 

Discounts

Dell Technologies UK is offering discounts to NUJ members on a range of selected IT and other benefits. These include: up to 20 per cent discount on laptops, desktops, monitors and accessories. Plus, there are additional discounts during promotional periods. Access is also available to Dell’s small business technology advisers for free advice on developing your business. Go to Exclusive Membership Offers, follow the on-screen instructions and use your unique member password: NUJ. The codes may be used for business or for personal use. Contact the team at [email protected] if you need help.

Scam warning

The NUJ communicates with members about direct debits only by writing, so beware of scammers who call by phone. 

NUJ subs

Many of us are feeling the squeeze as the cost-of-living increases. If you are struggling to pay your NUJ subscription fee because your income has reduced significantly, you are unemployed, or are on maternity leave please contact the membership department at [email protected]  for help and advice.

Your union profile

So the union can keep you up to date with news from the union and involve you in decisions such as consultative ballots on pay and other industrial issues and when we need to ballot for action, please login to the NUJ website, check your personal profile and add your personal email and mobile phone numbers so we do not have to send sensitive information to your workplace address. When you change jobs, remember to update your information. To do this log on at www.nuj.org.uk/login.html and then click My NUJ. You can update your contact preferences by clicking view/edit my profile.

NUJ Rate for the Job

How does a freelance journalist, especially one starting out, know what to charge? To help, the NUJ issues a Freelance Fees Guide. Getting up-to-date data requires members (in confidence) submitting the rates they get for shifts, and lineage etc. Find out more on the London Freelance Branch website.