The result of the company-wide ballot of NUJ members in Johnston Press is a 70 per cent vote in favour of strike action, the union said today. The ballot was over what the NUJ claims is Johnston's rushed introduction of a new Atex content management system which the union claims is costing jobs and harming the editorial quality of the company's newspapers. Ballot result was: In favour of strike action: yes, 236 (70 %); no, 101 (30%). Action short of strike: yes, 296,(88.1%); no, 40 (11.9 %). Turnout was 65.2 per cent.
NUJ members protested at the Johnston Press annual shareholders' meeting in Edinburgh today. They leafleted outside the meeting while some were inside and grilled executives about the impact of the new editorial management system. "We really hauled them over the coals," said an NUJ official who was at the meeting.
The NUJ is targeting Johnston Press today with a one day strike at the Scarborough Evening News and associated titles and a protest outside the company's annual meeting in Edinburgh. The result of a company wide ballot on industrial action is also expected to be announced today. The union claims that the rushed introduction of an Atex content management system has led to a "disastrous drop" in the quality of Johnston newspapers. “The Scarborough journalists and their colleagues are in the vanguard of a massive wave of discontent across the Johnston group over management’s implementation of Atex, cutting staffing levels and increasing workloads,” said NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear. "Their fight is for jobs, but it is also for quality. Johnston Press is damaging the newspapers our members produce, creating a product which can only fail to satisfy readers. That is an attack on local communities and local democracy. "Shareholders meeting today in Edinburgh need to know that editorial resources at the group have been cut to the bone to pay for the Johnston debt mountain which was created a through a foolish policy of buying up other titles at high cost. Now the bankers want repayment, and an inept management is seeking to cut costs by slashing jobs. That is damaging the quality of the Johnston newspapers, with an obvious impact on sales. " Scarborough: Why we are on strike Pic:Jeremy Dear in protest outside Johnston Press briefing to analysts in City of London last year (Jon Slattery)
Sky News producer Tami Hoffman blogs about hearing Gordon Brown's gaffe in Rochdale: "So headphones still on I watched him stride off to his car, and heard a very forceful slam of the door followed by a pause and then 'That was ridiculous'. Gruff, annoyed and most definitely on camera. And then: 'She's just a sort of bigoted woman who said she used to vote Labour.' After days and days of my nose pressed to the coalface of election producing it was a magic moment."
Kelvin MacKenzie in the Sun suggests Observer media commentator Peter Preston should be more critical of the editors of the Guardian and Observer following the latest circulation figures:"Did Mr Preston point out that the editors of both papers were untalented, overpaid dimwits whose lack of ability was threatening the jobs of thousands? No. " Thomson Reuters chief executive Tom Glocer onhis blog:"I seldom comment on contentious current events, let alone those that affect clients of Thomson Reuters. However, the intense global criticism of Goldman, Sachs prompts me to join the debate. No sooner had the SEC surprised the firm and the market with its charges of fraud relating to the structuring and marketing of a 2007 synthetic collateral debt obligation (CDO) offering, than commentators up to and including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown fell all over themselves to convict Goldman as being “morally bankrupt.”It just seems too easy and too politically expedient to jump on this bandwagon."
Tony Lennox, editor of the Birmingham Press, according toThe Journalism Hub:"I’m not joking, the entire newspaper – content, pictures, design templates and all – is on a single laptop in my kitchen. I keep on waking in a sweat that the bloody thing’s crashed or that someone’s nicked it. If they did there’d be no edition next week."
Marc Reeves, former editor of the Birmingham Post, on the Birmingham Press on his blog: "I give it six months"
Former editor of the Birmingham MailSteve Dyson on the launch of Birmingham Post Lite to counter the Press, comments on the Stirrer: "Surely a better plan for Trinity Mirror would have been to beef up the paid-for Post, and to do so with new resource that did not deplete the Mail? Producing an even-better product to compete against an invader could have won the war; but diluting all products to produce a spoiler that only cannibalises sales risks, at best, a Dunkirk."
NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear announcing the union is to save the Regional Press Awards: "At a time when newspaper groups bemoan the profitability of the industry and cuts in staffing and budgets threaten quality journalism, we are proud to be celebrating inspiring local and regional newspaper journalism. It would be unacceptable to see the great work of local and regional journalists – in print and online - go unrecognised."
Salisbury Journal editor Bill Browne on HoldtheFrontPage after online story 'Dog injures nose' gets record web traffic: "It's the biggest thing since I had two concrete badgers nicked from a doorstep in Basingstoke when I edited the Basingstoke Gazette... I understand from the newsdesk that it was a fairly slow news day on Saturday."
<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">NUJ</span> News Release: Journalists take strike action at the Scarborough Evening News, Aberdeen Walk, Scarborough, YO11 1BB
The NUJ chapel at the Johnston Press-owned Scarborough Evening News and associated titles has issued a statement about why its members are taking strike action for the first time in 30 years tomorrow.
Part of the statement says: "Drastic cuts in staffing levels mean we as journalists can’t do the job we want to do. We are not getting out to speak to people, and we can’t cover court stories or council meetings often enough. We have to work unacceptably long hours to cover staff shortages and our health and safety is being put at risk.
"Journalists have accepted many new technologies and work practices, but this loss of valued and skilled colleagues' jobs, and the extra workload imposed on us is unacceptable. We feel our flexibility and willingness to adapt and learn has been taken for granted by management.
"Our managers are cutting corners and compromising on quality so much that we have reached the point where enough is enough. We feel it’s time to make a stand. "
Excellent obit by Francis Beckett in the Guardian today on former NUJ general secretary Harry Conroy (pictured), who died last weekend. It has a particularly good summing up of the state of the NUJ during Conroy's leadership: "In 1985, Harry was elected general secretary of a union weakened by years of sectarian strife, and a demoralised head office and national executive. In five years, mostly by sheer force of personality, he restored unity and a sense of purpose, making the NUJ far better respected by employers and other trade unions. But his efforts to build unity with the print unions against Murdoch failed. Harry went to the journalists on the Murdoch titles and begged them to refuse to go to Wapping. Once Murdoch had gobbled up the printers, journalists would be next on his menu, he said. He was a leading advocate of closer relations with print unions, with a view to a merger, but both right and left wings within the NUJ resisted, and when Harry came up for re-election, they combined to defeat him narrowly."
Local newspapers are rated as by far the most popular media source for people who want to make their voice heard about important issues which affect them, according to an independent study, the Newspaper Society claimed today. The local press rated 60 per cent in the study compared to scores of 15 per cent for council publications and 11 per cent for local radio. The Newspaper Society is to publish the full findings of the study, looking at how local council news and information are consumed by the public, which was conducted by TNS-RI Omnibus, to coincide with Local Newspaper Week, 10-16 May.
Sky News producer Tami Hoffman tells on her blog how she first heard Gordon Brown's gaffe when he described Rochdale grandmother Gillian Duffy as a "bigoted woman." Hoffman blogs: "For a TV news producer this was a dream spot - the Prime Minister revealing a chink in his carefully choreographed election campaign. Caught on tape - and seen by me before anyone else had noticed. I didn't spot it live as Sky News wasn't on the pictures at the time - we were still caught up in a turgid Alistair Darling speech. So thank God for quad split TVs, that give TV producers the chance to watch multiple sources at the same time. The confrontation between the PM and Gillian Duffy was going out on the BBC but they cut off the pictures before the crucial departure shot. I was intrigued by Gordon Brown's body language. Without the audio on I couldn't work out if this was a friendly chat or a hostile altercation. The body language didn't add up. And when I listened in, I was struck by what I felt was the very forced jolliness of the PM asking about her grandchildren and joking about her red jacket. It didn't ring true. So headphones still on I watched him stride off to his car, and heard a very forceful slam of the door followed by a pause and then 'That was ridiculous'. Gruff, annoyed and most definitely on camera. And then: 'She's just a sort of bigoted woman who said she used to vote Labour.' After days and days of my nose pressed to the coalface of election producing it was a magic moment. The day then played out like a feature length episode of In The Thick of It - Gillian's shock, Gordon's confession, the media's delight. Watching Gordon Brown arrive later to apologise at Gillian Duffy's house in Rochdale, I swear I felt the hand of history on my shoulder."
Former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie calls today for journalists at the Guardian to rise up and overthrow their "old guard" bosses. In his Sun column MacKenzie turns his wrath on Observer media commentator and former Guardian editor Peter Preston who he describes as an "elderly has-been". MacKenzie, referring to the latest circulation figures showing a year-on-year fall of 17 per cent in Guardian sales and a 23 per cent drop for the Observer, asks: "Was there a squeak from The Guardian about its poor performance? No. "Did Mr Preston point out that the editors of both papers were untalented, overpaid dimwits whose lack of ability was threatening the jobs of thousands? No. Preston is part of the gang that is sending this company towards the bankruptcy courts." He then calls for revolution: "The journalists should rise up against this old guard before it removes them."
The NUJ's London Photographers' Branch has voted to adopt the model letter (above) to send to the Guardian which has, according to the union, unilaterally imposed cuts to the rates paid for photographs after years of having agreed them with the NUJ. "I am shocked at this outrageous behaviour by the Guardian," said NUJ freelance organiser John Toner, "I suspect few of its readers realise that this is the sort of bucaneering bullying that the Guardian gets up to in its dealings with working people. This latest smash and grab comes on top of the unilateral scrapping last year of reproduction fees for commissioned work."
Thomson Reuters chief executive officer Tom Glocer has defended Goldman Sachs, a client of the company, on his blog and suggested that commentators in "our media-driven society" have rushed to judgement. Glocer writes: "I seldom comment on contentious current events, let alone those that affect clients of Thomson Reuters. However, the intense global criticism of Goldman, Sachs prompts me to join the debate. "No sooner had the SEC surprised the firm and the market with its charges of fraud relating to the structuring and marketing of a 2007 synthetic collateral debt obligation (CDO) offering, than commentators up to and including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown fell all over themselves to convict Goldman as being “morally bankrupt.”It just seems too easy and too politically expedient to jump on this bandwagon. "Perhaps the firm will eventually be found liable of these charges, although I rather doubt it. But what happened to our prized principles of maintaining innocence prior to being proven guilty? What is it about our media-driven society that prompts normally thoughtful observers to rush to judgment --even those who couch their indictments in the form of “well, if they did do what the SEC accuses them of, they are [morally reprehensible]?" Glocer adds: "Enough already. Goldman has 36,000 employees, among them no doubt a couple of bad apples. Among them are also many upstanding, ethically decent mothers and fathers who deserve better than to be branded as the source of financial contagion." He concludes: "Goldman does not need me to defend them – they have far better lawyers on retainer. But when most of the world is ready to convict and condemn before trial, my sense of fairness suggests we should suspend judgment until the full story emerges."
I thought PrivateEye wouldn't be able to resist spoofing the way the Tory press has gone gunning for Nick Clegg. It doesn't disappoint today. Can you spot the difference with the real thing (top)?
The Independentreports today that a senior BBC strategist has left the corporation following an internal investigation into the leaking of a report to The Times in February mapping out the future of the organisation, including proposals to shut half the BBC's website, close 6 Music and Asian Network and to cap spending on broadcast rights for sports events.
It says: "The investigation was ordered by the BBC director general, Mark Thompson, following the leak in February of a draft version of a BBC Strategic Review drawn up by John Tate, the corporation's director of policy and strategy, which was in very limited circulation within the corporation."
In a statement to The Independent the BBC said: "We can confirm than an investigation has been satisfactorily concluded and that an individual has now left the BBC."
The corporation has chosen not to identify the individual.
Former Birmingham Mail editor Steve Dyson has made a plea for the journalists involved in the war between the Birmingham Post Lite and Birmingham Press to show less bitterness to each other.
Writing on his blog reviewing regional newspapers, hosted by HoldtheFrontPage, Dyson has a message for the troops involved in the battle between the Trinty Mirror and Chris Bullivant owned titles.
He says: "Compete with drive and enthusiasm and continue to dash to beat each other to the best tales. But try to avoid too much of the bitterness that is currently flying about. Already we have former Post columnists sent to Coventry by remaining staff for jovially poking fun at ex-colleagues, a row that started when blogger John Duckers referred to the Post Lite as the Post 'Shite' before it was even printed.
"I've spoken to Duckers and, because of the offence caused, he regrets he went too far and has deleted the wayward post. But come on, guys and gals, www.duckersanddiving.co.uk is meant to be caustic, and we all love to laugh when it's cutting about everyone else.
"I mention this only as an example of how friends could be lost for the wrong reason. The likes of Duckers and many other Press contributors I’ve spoken to were, remember, discarded by the Post and Mail, and they have every right to happily contribute to write for a new publication that is welcoming and paying for their scripts.
"None of the troops deserve to be cast out as treacherous. Save that for Generals Bailey and Bullivant, and keep them on their toes to properly back quality products in Birmingham."
For the record, Dyson believes the Lite narrowly beat the Press in launch week. But he has already voiced his concern that Trinity's strategy is "mistaken" and might backfire by hurting its core products in Birmingham, the Post and Mail.
Interesting post on the blog Memex 1.1 (John Naughton’s online diary):
"A copy of an intriguing email just popped into my inbox:
From: [redacted]
Sent: 27 April 2010 11:15
To: [redacted]
Subject: request from Jenna Sloan, The Sun If you have relevant information for the media professional concerned
please click this link to reply:
jenna.sloan@the-sun.co.uk Request deadline: Thursday 29 April, 2010, 4:00 pm Contact me by e-mail at jenna.sloan@the-sun.co.uk My request: I’m looking for a teacher and a nurse to be case studies in The Sun next week.
This is for a political, election feature and both must be willing to say why they feel let down by the Labour Government, and why they are thinking about voting Conservative. We’ll need to picture them, and also have a chat about their political opinions.
We can pay the case studies £100 for their time. Please do let me know if you think you can help.
"Is this genuine, I wonder? If so, interesting, ne c’est pas? First of all in terms of the implicit journalistic ’standards’, but also in terms of chequebook journalism. It just shows you what they think of teachers and NHS Staff — assuming that they’d be willing to pimp themselves for £100. Max Clifford’s clients wouldn’t blow their noses for that."
The Society of Editors today called on all parliamentary candidates to pledge their support for a free and independent media and back major reform of the libel laws.
In a dossier that shows how media freedom has been undermined further since Britain’s press was described as only "half free" by the then editor of the Sunday Times, Harold Evans, editors call for:
Recognition of the role of the media in a free and democratic society.
The principle of the freedom of the media to be enshrined in any new constitutional legislation.
Candidates to recognise that the media’s role in uncovering the parliamentary expenses scandal will, in the long term, enhance respect for politics.
Root and branch reform of libel laws and regulations to stop lawyers profiteering from no-win, no-fee cases.
Politicians to accept that the media should be encouraged rather than hindered in its work of exposing wrong-doing.
SoE president Donald Martin, editor-in-chief of the Herald and Times, Glasgow, said: “It is simply astonishing that in the first decade of the 21st century there are now more threats to the media than when Harry Evans called us to arms in 1974.
“All parties claim to support freedom of expression. We shall look at this regularly and at the election after this one to see if they have lived up to those commitments.While the media may be imperfect, it must be free, warts and all, to investigate, expose and criticise on behalf of the public.”
The dossier has been written by Peter Cole, Professor of Journalism at Sheffield University.
The editor of Chris Bullivant's newly launched Birmingham Press has revealed the true scarcity of his resources, according to a report of the paper's launch party on The Journalism Hub.
It reports: "Speaking at the launch of The Birmingham Press on Friday at the city’s Botanical Gardens, Tony Lennox told a group of guests how he was hoping his 'single laptop doesn’t blow up.' After one or two giggly media types laughed this off, Lennox insisted: 'I’m not joking, the entire newspaper – content, pictures, design templates and all – is on a single laptop in my kitchen. I keep on waking in a sweat that the bloody thing’s crashed or that someone’s nicked it. If they did there’d be no edition next week.' "
The Committee to Protect Journalists has written to the US Secretary of Defense, Robert M Gates, calling for a public inquiry into the deaths of journalists and media staff in Iraq.
The CPJ says it is disturbed by the video recently disclosed by WikiLeaks showing a U.S. military strike that took place on July 12, 2007. The attack killed an unspecified number of individuals, including Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen and his assistant, Saeed Chmagh.
At least 16 journalists and three media support workers have been killed by U.S. forces’ fire, according to CPJ’s research.
It says of an investigation: "The findings should be made public and lessons learned should be incorporated into military training to reduce the likelihood that journalists covering combat operations will come under fire."
CPJ executive director Joel Simon says in the letter: "We renew our call for comprehensive, impartial, and public inquiries into all of these cases, including the events of July 12, which led to the deaths of Noor-Eldeen and Chmagh. These investigations would benefit both the military and the media so long as the lessons learned are integrated into future training."
The International Federation of Journalists has already appealed to President Obama to open an inquiry.
Forget the General Election: The Salisbury Journal has updated its story 'Dog injures nose' which I mentioned yesterday.
Editor Bill Browne has told HoldtheFrontPage the story generated record web traffic: "It's the biggest thing since I had two concrete badgers nicked from a doorstep in Basingstoke when I edited the Basingstoke Gazette," he said. "I understand from the newsdesk that it was a fairly slow news day on Saturday."
The NUJ says today that it has saved the Regional Press Awards after Press Gazette's one time owner Wilmington announced the event was not going ahead this year due to lack of support from an industry in the grip of the worst recession in its history.
The Regional Press Awards were devised and run by Press Gazette but the event was retained by Wilmington when it sold the magazine to Progressive Media International.
The new event has its own website at NUJ Regional Press Awards. It will take place on Tuesday, 29 June, at Dingwalls in Camden, London, from 1pm. It will be free to enter and open to non-members of the NUJ.
The NUJ says the awards rescue is part of the union’s "Stand up for Journalism" initiative.
NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear said: "At a time when newspaper groups bemoan the profitability of the industry and cuts in staffing and budgets threaten quality journalism, we are proud to be celebrating inspiring local and regional newspaper journalism.
"It would be unacceptable to see the great work of local and regional journalists – in print and online - go unrecognised. The NUJ Regional Press Awards will be a celebration of tenacious, ethical, quality campaigning journalism and a recognition of the best in photography, design and writing."
It is understood that the NUJ aims to fund the event via a group of sponsors. Some have already pledged support and the union is hoping others will come forward. The event is planned to be "less lavish" than most awards ceremonies. The categories are:
Multimedia Journalist of the Year
Reporter of the Year
Columnist of the Year
Feature Writer of the Year
Sports Journalist of the Year
Student Journalist of the Year
Designer of the Year
Photographer of the Year
Sports Photographer of the Year
Scoop of the Year
Campaign of the Year
Multimedia Publisher of the Year
Newspaper of the Year
Specialist Writer of the Year
The Felix Dearden Reporting on Race Award
The NUJ last year launched an award no regional newspaper would want to win - Most Hypocritical Local Media Campaign of the Year. It was launched in the same week as Press Gazette's Regional Press Awards.
The NUJ said: "While bosses and their sponsors quaff champagne most local press journalists will be struggling to fill the paper with limited staff and no interest from their owners.
"So the NUJ is launching the Most Hypocritical Local Media Campaign of the Year award, aimed at all the papers who urge readers to save the local economy while chucking profit-making workers onto the dole."
A "winner" was never announced.
Peter Sands, chairman of the Regional Press Awards' judges, said of the decision to scrap this year's awards: "If the regional press doesn't celebrate the excellence that runs through its newspapers, applaud the journalists who go that extra yard every day, recognise the editors who invest in off-diary work and innovation … then who will? I am particularly uncomfortable with the suggestion that we just applaud excellence during the good times. Those who work hard to maintain standards when the going gets tough deserve to be honoured."
On the same day it launched its "Greater New York" edition, The Wall Street Journal topped the list of the largest-circulation daily newspapers in the US,Editor& Publisherreports. The Journal was the only daily among the 25 largest to gain circulation in the Audit Bureau of Circulations Fas-Fax report for the six-month period ended March 31. USA Today recorded a decrease of 13.58% as it fell below the two million mark to 1,826,622. The San Jose Mercury News entered the top 10 list by incorporating the Oakland Tribune and Contra Costa Times as editions of the Mercury News.
Top 10 US Newspapers by Daily Circulation
1. The Wall Street Journal: 2,092,523 +0.5% 2. USA Today: 1,826,622 -13.58% 3. The New York Times: 951,063 -8.47% 4. Los Angeles Times: 616,606 -14.74% 5. Washington Post: 578,482 -13.06% 6. Daily News (New York): 535,059 -11.25% 7. New York Post: 525,004 -5.94% 8. San Jose Mercury News: 516,701 N/A (1/1/10 To 3/31/2010) 9. Chicago Tribune: 452,145 -9.79% 10. Houston Chronicle: 366,578 -13.77%
The curse of the Tory photo op in the Camden New Journal has struck again. Thanks to Tom Foot for this picture of Tory MP Justine Greening, shadow minister for London, meeting Tory candidate Chris Philp, candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn, while a poster of a smirking Gordon Brown looks down.
This is the same paper that brought you a picture of a line-up of Tory candidates , including Philp,with an estate agent's billboard in the background, reading: "Camerons Stiff &Co."
A new hyper-local news site for the people of Manchester - called Inside the M60 - has been launched by local journalists Nigel Barlow and Louise Bolotin
They say: "We aim to report on the issues of concern to the general population of the city, scrutinise the policies of local government and other public and private bodies within the city and be unafraid to tackle even the smallest issues that affect the people of Greater Manchester."
Barlow and Bolotin add: "As a result of cost-cutting measures, local papers have by nature become more insular, relying more and more on 'churnalism' and breaking that crucial relationship with their readership and their customers, the advertisers. There are, therefore, opportunities for niche journalism projects with a small cost base that take advantage of the low cost of entry and can act as the voice for these communities." Inside the M60 is looking for community reporters in: Crumpsall, Harpurhay, Cheetham Hill, Lighbourne, Moston, Newton Heath, Failsworth, Ancoats, Beswick, Bradford, Ardwick, Gorton, Levenshulme, Longsight, Central Manchester and Hulme. It is wants to recruit volunteers to cover the General Election.
You can follow Inside the M60 on Twitter: @insidetheM60.
First we had this line up of Tory candidates from the Camden New Journal : (the For Sale sign reads: Camerons Stiff & Co.).
Now this Cameron picture by Michael Schofield, on his FB page, - via Scott Douglas http://ow.ly/i/1g5M
The Independent appears to have dropped its Monday media section and switched media commentator Stephen Glover to its new Viewspaper section with a column called Media Studies.
Glover argues today that the Tory tabloids are not acting in unison to attack Nick Clegg.
Former Birmingham Mail editor Steve Dyson has given his verdict on the Birmingham newspaper war and describes Trinity Mirror's strategy of launching the Birmingham Post Lite spoiler against Chris Bullivant's new Birmingham Press as "mistaken".
Writing on the Stirrer website, Dyson says: "I fear that the main loser in this battle could well end up being the Post, a product with an already delicate circulation which could be decimated or worse by the mistaken strategy of Trinity Mirror.
"And I also worry that the losers could include a reduced-quality Birmingham Mail, robbed of its already stretched manpower to help produce more content for the Lite, an extra sister paper that the joint newsroom was just not staffed up to resource.
"And the Press? Well, its incursion could end up being helped, not hindered, by the confused combat tactics of Trinity Mirror. Especially with the Press’s clever marketing tactics of occasional free delivery, tempting readers to buy it in the weeks it doesn’t arrive."
Dyson suggests: "Surely a better plan for Trinity Mirror would have been to beef up the paid-for Post, and to do so with new resource that did not deplete the Mail?
"Producing an even-better product to compete against an invader could have won the war; but diluting all products to produce a spoiler that only cannibalises sales risks, at best, a Dunkirk."
Meanwhile, ex-Birmingham Post editor Marc Reeves' verdict on the Birmingham Press is: "I give it six months", while Bullivant has told Press Gazettethat if the Press fails it will be "his Waterloo".
Steve Dyson edited the Birmingham Mail from 2005 to the end of 2009. His detailed 'Dyson at Large' blog reviewing local newspapers will this week compare the Post Lite and the Press, and can be read at www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk from 7am Wednesday.
Harry Conroy who was general secretary of the NUJ from 1985 to 1990 has died aged 67.
Conroy was general secretary during the turbulent days of the Wapping dispute when many News International NUJ members crossed picket lines after the Fleet Street print unions were locked out of Rupert Murdoch's new plant in the Docklands.
Conroy was also NUJ FoC at the Daily Record when Robert Maxwell realised his long ambition to become a press baron by buying Mirror Group Newspapers shortly after midnight on Friday 13, July 1984. The NUJ was furious as there had been plans to float MGN. Conroy described the Maxwell takeover as "a nightmare come true."
After working as a hospital trainee laboratory technician, Conroy joined the Scottish Daily Express in Glasgow in 1962 as an editorial copy boy; and the following year moved to the features department as a junior sub. In 1964, he left for the Daily Record as a reporter and remained there until 1966 when he joined the Scottish Daily Mail. He returned to the Record in 1967 as a reporter, and two years later was apponted financial correspondent.
Conroy was described by The Scotsman as "one of the finest reporters of his generation" and was said to be equally comfortable rubbing shoulders with mobsters, police officers and captains of industry.
Scottish NUJ organiser Paul Holleran said Conroy was "a man of principle and integrity" and "a fine journalist". He added: "Harry always tried to build bridges, always tried to get on with people, even when he disagreed with them. He would always talk to people, negotiate."
The NUJ was deeply split by the Wapping dispute and Conroy was defeated in the 1990 election for general secretary by Steve Turner, the Daily Mirror FoC, who campaigned against union militants and opposed the NUJ's policy of seeking mergers with other media unions.
After being NUJ general secretary, Conroy was appointed campaigns director of the Scottish Constitutional Convention, edited the Catholic Observer and undertook PR work for charities. He also wrote on business and finance for The Herald and Evening Times in Glasgow. His funeral begins with 10 o'clock Mass next Friday (April 30) at St Bride's Church, Cambuslang, and then to Rutherglen Cemetery, Mill Street, Rutherglen, at 11.30am.
In 2008, Harry Conroy strongly criticised Newsquest's plans to merge the editorial operations at The Herald, Sunday Herald and Evening Times and make the journalists on the three papers redundant and reapply for their jobs. In a comment piece onallmediascotland, he said: "We are talking here about more than a business, we are talking about an integral part of the democratic process. It is now more important than ever that Scotland, with its own parliament, is served by a diverse and high quality media. Newsquest have been accused before of treating The Herald in particular as just another regional paper. It is not. It serves a nation with its own legal system and a parliament which legislates."
NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear: "Our thoughts are with Harry's beloved wife Margaret and their family at this sad time. He will be greatly missed by a wide circle in journalism, politics and beyond who valued his integrity, his wisdom, and also his generous friendship. Harry will be remembered by generations of journalists as a powerful advocate for improved pay and conditions and media freedom".
Journalists employed in Yorkshire by Johnston Press at Scarborough, Whitby and Malton are taking strike action next Friday (April 30) in the NUJ dispute with the group over the introduction of the Atex content management system and "attacks on professional standards of journalism", the union said today.
The strike action will coincide with the Johnston Press Group’s AGM in Edinburgh.
NUJ organiser Chris Morley said: “There is only one sensible way forward in the interest of readers, journalists and the Johnston Press Group itself. The company must sit down with the union to negotiate - over pay and fair reward, over the implementation of the ATEX system and over workloads and staffing levels - so that a damaging dispute can be avoided."
He added: “Our members are particularly shocked that management is now threatening to axe two trainees in order to implement its misguided plans for the introduction of Atex. These young people were taking their first
steps towards a career as professional journalists, and to treat them in this heartless way defies description."
Following the soaraway success of my guest blog this week Confessions of a Council Propagandist, the inside story of life as an editor of a council newspaper, which has featured on Press Gazette, journalism.co.uk and Fleet Street Blues, I would welcome more confessional guest blogs, especially from those at the sharp end of journalism during these difficult times.
If there's anything you want to confess or get off your chest, mark it "guest blog" and email it to me at jonslat@blueyonder.co.uk.
Regards, Jon S
The NUJ claimed today that stranded journalists are "being attacked" by their employer Johnston Press because they have been unable to get back to work due to the impact on air travel of the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud.
NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear said: "“In common with so many other victims of the shutdown of European air services, journalists want to get back to work at the end of their holidays. But that’s not good enough for the Johnston Press Group, apparently. Personnel departments in the group are now insisting on treating unavoidable absence due to the volcano as holidays or unpaid leave. While our members currently balloting on industrial action to resist the attempts by Johnston Press to impose job cuts and inferior production systems on their newspapers don’t need any encouragement to stand up for proper standards of journalism, this mean-spirited action by the group is hardly designed to win support from employees for an inept management.”
You can't accuse former Birmingham Posteditor Marc Reeves of sitting on the fence with his verdict on Chris Bullivant's new weekly Birmingham Press, launched today. He writes on his blog: "I give it six months."
Reeves, now editor of online business news service TheBusinessDesk West Midlands, also takes a swipe at the NUJ which yesterday welcomed Bullivant's launch.
Reeves says: "you’d think Bullivant had created in his Knowle nerve centre a newsroom bursting at the seams with well-paid reporters, news editors, a complete picture desk, a features department, night editors and even copy boys. Just like the good old days that the NUJ understands.
"The truth, of course, is somewhat different. The Press is being produced by the brilliant Tony Lennox, who through his years running the Post and Mail’s weekly newspapers continued to produce titles even when Trinity (and other owners) had reduced staffing in some cases to 0.5 reporters per title.
"That’s the skillset Bullivant wants running his editorial operation, which has to be at the lower end of low-cost. The team behind Tony, such as it is, is made up of mates, ex-colleagues and enthusiasts who have been kicking their heels recently and are grateful for the measly lineage on offer from the Press."
He adds: "The self-regarding NUJ have missed the mark again. They think this battle is about newspapers and journalism in Birmingham. It isn’t – it’s all about a small business trying to take revenue away from a large business – Bullivant only wants to hoover up property advertising revenue from under Trinity Mirror’s nose. Journalists – and journalism – are nothing more than bit-part players in this fight."
His killer conclusion: "As long as Bullivant thinks he’s got the estate agents on side, he’ll keep writing cheques for Tony. As soon as it looks like Trinity Mirror are winning the battle, he’ll pull the plug.
"I give it six months."
Sir Michael Parkinson presenting the NAPA awards: "I am now chancellor of a university and I talk to the students there and there is a difference in philosophy, I think. I joined a newspaper because I thought it would be a glamorous job, I would be like Robert Mitchum with a trilby and a trench coat, but nowadays when I talk to the students I get a real impression that behind their ambition is another ambition, that ambition is to walk down the stairs of a television talkshow and become famous, to be a celebrity, to sit next to Cheryl Cole."
Former Sun editor David Yelland writing in the Guardian: "I doubt if Rupert Murdoch watched the election debate last week. His focus is very firmly on the United States, especially his resurgent Wall Street Journal. But if he did, there would have been one man totally unknown to him. One man utterly beyond the tentacles of any of his family, his editors or his advisers. That man is Nick Clegg."
Stephen Glover in the Independent: "If a newspaper group increases profits, particularly during tough times, its most senior executives should receive significant rises. But when profits fall? The Daily Mirror would scream if a banker's salary soared as profits dropped, but its own Sly Bailey is judged in another light. Why are newspaper executives different? As the Daily Mail might say: 'They still just don't get it, do they?' "
NUJ general secretary Jeremey Dear welcomes the launch of the Birmingham Press: "As the union for professional journalists, the NUJ wishes the new venture well. It is ironic that its launch might never have happened if Birmingham Post and Mail proprietors Trinity Mirror had behaved more sensibly. We warned Trinity Mirror that by collapsing the scope of its publications in the city and making journalists redundant, the market was being opened up for a competitor happy to recruit skilled staff who became unexpectedly available."
Independent editor-in-chief Simon Kelner on the paper's revamp: "It doesn't surprise me that yesterday's postbag contained praise from some, and complaints from others. Most liked the design, although there were one or two quibbles about the front page (justified, I feel, but bear with us while we find our range). What really exercises readers is finding that a regular feature – the crossword or the sudoku, for instance – has moved. We will try to signpost these changes better. And I also take seriously your comments about the type size."
Council newspaper editor on this blog: "I come from a journalistic background but I never fooled myself into thinking that what I am now doing is journalism. It uses some of the same tools, but it is emphatically not journalism."
Nick Clegg after being attacked by the Tory tabloids: "I must be the only politician who's gone from being Churchill to being a Nazi in under a week."
The NUJ has welcomed the launch this week of Chris Bullivant's new paper the Birmingham Press - which will take on the Birmingham Post - by having a dig at the Post's publisher, Trinity Mirror.
NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear said today: “The launch of the Birmingham Press this week is a vote of confidence in the city as a news centre where the skills of writers, photographers and production journalists can help to provide an added service to readers in a complex modern environment.
“As the union for professional journalists, the NUJ wishes the new venture well. It is ironic that its launch might never have happened if Birmingham Post and Mail proprietors Trinity Mirror had behaved more sensibly. We warned Trinity Mirror that by collapsing the scope of its publications in the city and making journalists redundant, the market was being opened up for a competitor happy to recruit skilled staff who became unexpectedly available."
The NUJ notes Trinity Mirror has made more than 100 journalists redundant in the West Midlands and "reduced" the Birmingham Post to a weekly.
NUJ organiser for the midlands Chris Morley, a former Birmingham Mail industrial correspondent, added: "The launch of an entirely new paper in a major city like Birmingham is a significant step. The creation of the Birmingham Press is a warning to all major British publishers that they have made themselves vulnerable to other players by reducing their their editorial workforce so that they may lack the resources to respond to competition.
"We warned Trinity Mirror that it was fundamentally weakening its core titles by making the swingeing cuts it did. It may be that further cuts have now been suspended by the company because of the threat from a rival. If Trinity Mirror wants to survive in Birmingham it must stop cutting and start investing in its journalism."
The BusinessDesk West Midlandsreports today: "BIRMINGHAM’S newspaper war entered a new phase this week as Trinity Mirror and entrepreneur Chris Bullivant unveiled their rival titles – and it appears that round one has gone to the Birmingham Post Lite. The TM title was first to market, a free version of the city’s flagship weekly newspaper that will be delivered to 18,000 homes in upmarket areas. Post Lite was published this morning (Thursday), on the same day as its paid-for sister title, and 24 hours ahead of the Birmingham Press, the Bullivant title whose launch triggered the battle. Crucially, Post Lite contains 72 pages of property advertising – eight more than the Press. The support of estate agents is the crucial commercial battleground between the new papers.The Press will have 116 pages, including 64 carrying property advertising, and will also be available for sale in areas such as Solihull and Sutton Coldfield."
The NUJ and Unite unions issued a joint statement today after redundancies were announced among finance and clerical staff at the Manchester Evening News. The statement said:“The NUJ and Unite are disappointed that within weeks of Trinity Mirror taking over the newspaper operation, redundancies have been announced. We feared that any takeover would result in cost-cutting rather than the much-needed investment in a long-neglected business. This announcement will not help to quell the worries of our hard working loyal members at the MEN.
“The NUJ and Unite are seeking assurances from Trinity Mirror and recommending they declare now that it is not planning massive cuts on its newly acquired titles to make up the £20 million savings that group chief executive Sly Bailey said she intended making this year. If this business is to recover from the trauma of recession, our members need to hear this commitment.”
The Tory-supporting tabloids have given Lib-Dem leader Nick Clegg a right going over on the eve of tonight's second leadership debate to be broadcast on SKY.
The Daily Mail accuses Clegg of a "Nazi slur" after claiming that the British people have 'a more insidious cross to bear' than Germany over the Second World War.
The Sun claims: "Nick Clegg was plunged into a sleaze row last night after it was claimed cash from Liberal Democrat donors was paid into his private bank account." Inside the paper, its ex-editor Kelvin MacKenzie lists 10 reasons not to vote for Clegg - which include he's "even posher than Cameron" and can't name an X Factor judge.
While the Express says: "CONTROVERSIAL Lib Dem plans to allow illegal immigrants to stay and work in Britain were exposed as madness yesterday as unemployment hit a 16-year high."
Guardian News and Media's head of media and technology Steve Busfield points out on Twitter today that Clegg's alleged "Nazi slur" is taken from this comment piece by the Lib-Dem leader published by the Guardian back in 2002 when he was an MEP.
Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism has announced that Emily Bell, director of digital content for Guardian News and Media, has been named the director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism. She will take up the post in late July and will also join the full-time faculty. Bell said: "To be named director of the Tow Center is an incredible honour and represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help shape the future of journalism at this critical time. Columbia’s unrivalled reputation for excellence in journalism training already attracts the co-operation and interest of the world’s leading news organisations, and the Center has the potential to play a transformative role in the future of journalism. I am eager to get started." The mission of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, eastablished earlier this year, is to educate journalists with the skills and knowledge to lead the future of digital journalism and to serve as a research and development center for the profession. In her new role, Bell will teach graduate students; collaborate with and study news organisations; develop new models for creating and delivering information along with business innovations to support those models; oversee original scholarly research; and advise on how to raise additional funds through research, program grants and gifts. Bell has worked at the Guardian since 2000, first as founder and editor of mediaguardian.co.uk, and then from 2001-2006 as editor-in-chief of Guardian Unlimited. She is to be a consultant to the Guardian.
The Sutton and Cheam Guardian has got a slating from the Anna Raccoon blog for giving one of eight election candidates a potted biography which read:
Martin Cullip, Libertarian
Plays with Surrey Darts team and helps maintain their Toe the Oche website.
The website cites his hobbies as The Cranberries, AFC Wimbledon and “running across all eight lanes of the M25 at junction eight dressed only in a basque and a pair of Pretty Polly 15 denier stockings”.
Anna says: "Martin was not hard to track down, he is a well known local business man, and was listed in the phone book. It took me all of five minutes, from another country, and I’m a non-fact checking, non-professional journalist. I called him.
"Why, I asked, would you give such a frivolous interview to the local paper; your habit of running across the M.25 in 15 denier stockings is hardly likely to encourage your chances of being elected, why not take the opportunity to put forward your Libertarian beliefs?
Mr Cullip exploded. His wife, he told me, had been in tears all night. He said:
“I knew politics was dirty, but I wasn’t expecting the local press to join in! My wife went from being immensely proud to almost in tears in a couple of hours. I’m more thick-skinned, but not happy.”
Anna, who admits to being a supporter of the Libertarian Party, says the other biogs of the candidates were quite straight forward and Cullip had supplied a detailed one himself, which she publishes.
Anna adds: "A little more digging and I discovered that the quote came from an obviously satirical piece written some eight years ago, and reproduced without permission from a copyrighted web site."
She has quotes from the editor of the Sutton and Cheam Guardian as well as Roy Greenslade, who told her: “It’s a disgraceful piece of journalism to lampoon a serious general election candidate on the basis of an unverified source. Once again, it underlines the dangers of reporters working online and then failing to check the truth of the content, especially when the website material is controversial."
MediaGuardianreports that copies of the Daily Star were taken off sale at Gatwick and Manchester airports because of this alarming front page.
The graphic of a jet with its engines on fire used to illustrate the Star's splash comes from a TV documentary about an incident 28 years ago in which a BA 747's engines were knocked out by a volcanic ash cloud. The documentary, previously broadcast on the National Geographic channel, is to be shown on Channel 5 tonight.
Deadly, unpunished violence against the press has soared in the Philippines and Somalia, the Committee to Protect Journalists has found in its newly updated Impunity Index, a list of countries where journalists are killed regularly and governments fail to solve the crimes.
The CPJ says impunity in journalist murders also rose significantly in Russia and Mexico, two countries with long records of entrenched, anti-press violence.
There was some good news, CPJ reports: "Brazil and Colombia, historically two of the world’s deadliest nations for the press, each made marked improvement in curbing deadly violence against journalists and bringing killers to justice. Recent convictions in Brazil, in fact, moved the country off the index entirely."
The CPJ lists 12 countries where journalists are murdered on a recurring basis and governments are unable or unwilling to prosecute the killers. The index covers the years 2000 to 2009.
The 12 are: Iraq, Somalia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Afghanistan, Nepal, Mexico, Russia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India.
The Independent's editor-in-chief Simon Kelner writes on the paper's letters' page today about reaction to the redesign which was unveiled yesterday.
He admits the front page wasn't perfect and that readers don't like to see their favourite features moved around.
Kelner says: "It doesn't surprise me that yesterday's postbag contained praise from some, and complaints from others. Most liked the design, although there were one or two quibbles about the front page (justified, I feel, but bear with us while we find our range).
"What really exercises readers is finding that a regular feature – the crossword or the sudoku, for instance – has moved. We will try to signpost these changes better. And I also take seriously your comments about the type size."
He adds: "We are distributing hundreds of thousands of copies of a special reduced version of The Independent free in selected areas. You will probably see one of our distribution agents, or one of our battle buses. Give them a wave. Show them you're independent."
The Nottingham Evening Post is the latest regional newspaper to drop 'Evening' from its title.
Launched by Thomas Forman on 1 May 1878, the Evening Post has been given a fresh look to go with its new Nottingham Post masthead.
Editor Malcom Pheby tells HoldtheFrontPage: "Quite a few of our readers were saying 'It's not really an evening paper' and we wanted to get Nottingham into the masthead.We are proud to be part of Nottingham and wanted to emphasise our connection to the city."
Many famous regional newspapers, including the Derby Evening Telegraph and Birmingham Evening Mail, have dropped Evening from their mastheads as they printed earlier in the day or, more recently, overnight to give the title more time to be on sale. Gone are the days when evening papers picked up large sales as workers flooded out of factory gates on the way home.
In London there is still the London Evening Standard.
Syracuse University College of Human Services and Health Professions
I commissioned this guest-blog from the editor of a council newspaper who, for obvious reasons, wants to remain anonymous. In it he admits his job is "not journalism" and involves producing "anti-news" but he also points an accusing finger at the local press for low salaries, poor circulation and negative reporting.
It is hard to wake up one morning and discover you are an enemy of local democracy. But that happened to me last summer.
I have been working away on editing a local authority publication, one of those ‘council rags’ that comes through the letterbox and most likely ends up in your bin. Or, if you have taken on board its many encouraging environmental stories, the recycling box.
I come from a journalistic background but I never fooled myself into thinking that what I am now doing is journalism.It uses some of the same tools, but it is emphatically not journalism.
It is not true that we don’t publish negative stories. If the council fails in one of the many national ratings exercises or a planned and much publicised development is scraped, we will cover it but our story will be couched in as positive a tone as possible.
And when you get lovely tales about councillors ending up in court for trying to punch each other’s lights out, we can’t touch it.
My job is part of the communications team, pure and simple. I try to tell residents about what is happening in their area; how it affects them and what they can do about it. And I try to keep pictures of councillors in the publication to a minimum. Honestly, I really do.
But if the best definition of news is that it is something that someone doesn’t want you to know, then this is anti-news; this is stuff we do want you to know.
And it is stuff that councils have to get out to their residents. They have a duty to communicate and keep residents informed.
They can do this through the local newspaper, but the truth is the majority of residents don’t ever see a local newspaper. Many councils now have a single, local newspaper covering their area and quite often that newspaper has an aggressively anti-council stance which means every story is a negative story. It is a bit like if we had the current government and the only news source you could get information about it – forget TV, radio and the internet – the only news source - was The Daily Mail.
Of course councils deserve rough treatment – I know mine does – but there is a legitimate public service to be done in terms of keeping people informed about their services.That is what I thought I did. But it now turns out that I am part of a conspiracy to destroy local democracy by destroying local newspapers.
The Council rags are turning from quarterly and monthly to fortnightly or even weekly. They are presenting themselves more as newspapers and stealing advertising from their ‘rivals’, the local press. The idea is residents stop buying local newspapers because they have council rags to read.
Certainly if you look at what some of the boroughs, like Hammersmith and Fulham, are doing with their faux newspaper, complete with motoring, gardening and sports pages and property supplements, they have crossed the line between a council rag and a thing that you would pick up casually, and think ‘this is a real newspaper’. I think that is dangerous.
There was an excellent piece about council publications in the Mirror.Perhaps the message could be even punchier if the Mirror’s parent company [Trinity Mirror] gave up its contracts to print some of these enemies of free speech.
The local newspaper in my area has seen its readership shrink. That could be my fault. Or is could be down to an ageing readership; or that young people are not reading newspapers; that the news staff on the paper have been cut drastically; or that the parent company has closed local offices and now several ‘local’ papers are written and produced miles from the areas they serve.This, in turn, has seen its news coverage of this area contract.
And if those all closures and lay offs and contractions are down to me and my rag then why are they also happening in areas with quarterly council rags?
There is another disheartening story about local newspapers and councils. Sitting across from me are the table of press officers, a very nice bunch, all late 20s, early 30s, you would like them. They all went to university and then straight onto local newspapers because they wanted to be journalists. They worked hard, making it to senior reporter or news editor or editor of their local edition.
Then they wanted to get married or buy flats and they looked around at an industry shedding jobs at every level. And they all applied for council press officer jobs that have seen their salaries jump by, on average, around 50 per cent.
That is not the fault of local government. It is not exactly anyone’s fault but it does highlight an ailing industry that pays people peanuts and hopes they will still do the job because they love it so much.
Anyway the outcome of the election is going to be a dark one for people like me. Whoever gets in is going to slash and burn the budgets of local authorities. And if they are closing Sure Start centres for children and depriving old people of basic home care, then what chance do the council rags have?
Mayor Boris down in London showed the way. One of his first acts in power was closing down Ken Livingstone’s The Londoner newspaper. It did him a lot of good.
Expect to see the drastic curtailing of council rags near you. Just don’t think that it is going to save local newspapers.
Jon S - Last year I wrote a piece on council newspapers and the local press for The Journalist which you can read here
The result of the company-wide ballot of NUJ members in Johnston Press is a 70 per cent vote in favour of strike action, the union said today.
