The National Union Of Journalists has announced it is staging a Europe-wide 'Stand Up For Journalism' day in a bid to highlight a "deepening crisis" in the media industry that has, they claim, been caused by job cuts and declining editorial standards. Taking place on 5 Nov, the day will include a lunchtime protest at the Society Of Editors conference in Manchester and an evening rally in London. NUJ chapters at individual media firms are also expected to stage their own events.
The Union claims that too many media firms are putting profits before quality, leading to drastic job cuts among journalistic and editorial staff which, in turn, leads to a slide in quality of output. NUJ General Secretary Jeremy Dear says this: "This will be a day of huge importance. The time has come for us to stand up as one and send a loud, clear message that our industry is in deep crisis. It's no coincidence that we have chosen Fireworks Day for our protest - we want the whole country to wake up and recognize that this is a matter of grave concern for all of us".
He continues: "We intend to spark a national debate about the crucial role journalism plays in our society. The media is the eyes and ears of the public, doing the essential job of revealing corruption, hypocrisy and wrong-doing. A matter of such enormous consequence can no longer be left solely in the hands of the media owners who have repeatedly shown they are not worthy of the stewardship of our profession. Our members will make it clear that they will no longer accept the cuts, the poor pay and the worsening working conditions to maintain the excessive profits of ever-more greedy media companies. Industry employers must come to their senses and realise that rather than endless bloodletting they must invest in quality journalism and the journalists that produce it".
Of course it will be interesting to see what coverage the protests get, given that the people writing the news will be taking part, but the people they are protesting against control their access to the mainstream public.