The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) invited students to its annual conference for the first time this April. Students from Scotland, Wales, England and Ireland assembled to discuss issues facing young journalists heading out into the jobs market. While the forum produced useful dialogue, those lingering for the entire Annual Delegates Meeting were faced with the harsh realities of an industry under pressure. Young comrades, the news from the coal-face is grim.
General Secretary Jeremy Dear opened with a bleak picture of the profession as it stands in 2005. One of the main items of the agenda was the impending loss of thousands of jobs as institutions like the BBC and ITV re-structure and thin their ranks. Newspapers too are moving to slash reporters from their workforce in an unprecedented cull. Freelancers are complaining of low pay, lack of work, poor health and benefits and the effects of new media and technology. To top all this, 2004 was the most dangerous year in history to be a journalist: 120 killed in the field. This is our jobs market.
From the podium, Dear called the BBC cuts the “most savage in the history of the BBC”. Up to 4,000 jobs, nearly 20 per cent of staff, are on the chopping block. Programme-makers are being asked to deal with human resources and finance issues as well as their production duties. This will have a negative impact on programme content, despite claims that savings made will be re-invested into programme-making.
The cuts are part of a movement that Director General Mark Thompson says will bring an end to bureaucracy, despite the fact that none of the cuts involve senior management. Industrial action on a massive scale is set to continue, having begun with a 24-hour walk-out by BBC staff on May 23. This was the first industrial action seen by the BBC in 20 years, and could be the beginning of a long and bitter battle.
The cuts in the BBC reflect a general shift in the industry. The Telegraph Group is also the subject of industrial action: jobs are being cut to pay for new printing presses.
Freelancers, and journalists in general, are struggling to even tread water financially. Whereas journalists used to earn 131 per cent of the average secondary school teacher salary, they now earn 98 per cent. Three-quarters of those would be unable to secure a basic mortgage.
So, in light of these trends, is trade union activity another burden on new journalists, or, as the NUJ argues, is it more important to be part of the collective now than ever before? Is there strength in numbers, or do journalists risk making themselves part of a more easily discernable target? Will being part of the collective have a tangible impact on rights and pay, or is it all just shouting in the wind?
No doubt, 36,500 voices shouting in unison are more likely to be heard. But if the message is flawed, will anyone really listen? In some respects the NUJ is living in the past, a victim of its own denial, and often the concessions it seeks are far removed from the practicalities on the ground.
One area where this was apparent were NUJ attitudes to work experience, multi-tasking and new media. During the student conference, the message was drummed home that students should not accept long unpaid work experience placements and should demand pay for any of their articles that are published. Students raised the point that making demands of organizations is likely to mark you out as a noisemaker and reduce the chance of getting any work placement at all.
The NUJ line gives little weight to the fact that work placement is the doorway to permanent employment. They treat the problem of low — or no —pay as if it was unique to journalism. In fact, students and trainees in most industries have to endure longer hours and lower pay when they start out. Despite tales of exploitation and deceptive practices, hard work and common sense will in most cases earn at the very least, respect, and with luck the prospects of paid work.
Low pay at other levels within the industry was also addressed at the conference. Freelancers vocalised their feelings about the rates they could demand. A survey conducted into the health and well-being of freelancers revealed that only 14 per cent had no money worries. A parallel 14 per cent said they were actively seeking another career.
However, an overwhelming majority of respondents — 97 per cent — said they enjoy work satisfaction. Despite the precarious nature of freelancing, 70 per cent prefer freelance over the ‘security’ of a staff job.
New media was a source of contention among the delegates. Bloggers and the increase of rights-free material were held up as demons, an action which is emblematic of a reticence to embrace new trends in media consumption and technology.
Complaints included the driving down of the value of copy, herd mentality with bloggers and online news sources chasing and repeating the same stories, and the degradation of scoops. There was no mention, however, of journalists who had successfully embraced new technology to aid and further their journalism. Richard Delevan and Andrew Sullivan are two examples who have adapted to the new media environment.
Insolent as it may be to suggest, the NUJ’s rigidity in the face of a changing media landscape could be very destructive. Surely journalists should be swimming with the current, rather than standing on the shore like King Cnut asking the tide to turn back?
No industry is static, and as the various media converge it is the task of journalists to adjust their skills accordingly. Multi-tasking will be essential in an effort to filter information from the flood instead of merely finding it. Traditional journalism need not be pushed aside, but rather altered to accept the increasing flood of information that is available to us.
So rather than protesting against how changes are going to affect what they do, perhaps it’s time to encourage the 36,500 NUJ card-holders to embrace new technology rather than sticking their heads in the sand. Journalism is moving from scoop to sift, and it’s up to those within the trade to change their ways or fall by the wayside.
NUJ member and freelance sailing photographer David Branigan has carved out a niche for himself in high-grade yachting images. But freelancing on the whole can be a daunting prospect.
“Freelancing is the art of independent survival. In the initial stages you have to take whatever you can get, and be willing to supplement your income with part-time work. Your choices are economically driven, it really is all about economics. If I was starting out now, I wouldn’t be a freelance photographer.
“But if you’re prepared to put up with a limited disposable income, you do retain a lot more control. You do have to be patient, commercially-minded and creative with your product. If you have a hectic social life, and it’s important to you, then you might want to think twice about it.”
Check out David’s work at www.oceansport.ie
Percentage of freelancers who have previously held staff positions: 68%
Percentage of freelancers who say they have ‘chosen’ to be freelance: 70%
Number of journalists killed worldwide in 2004: 129 (source: IFJ)
Number of those killed in Iraq: 29
Percentage of freelancers who have ‘no’ money worries: 14%
Percentage of journalists who claim to have suffered depression: 51%