High levels of bullying have been reported by local newspaper journalists in a survey of 4,000 workers published today.
The National Union of Journalists carried out the survey covering the media, arts and entertainments industries earlier this year.
All those who responded from local newspapers claimed to have been bullied, harassed or discriminated against.
It also revealed that some women journalists had been offered promotion in return for having sex with their boss.
The questionnaire was carried out to look into the problem of bullying within the creative industries by the members of the Federation of Entertainment Unions, which includes the NUJ.
A report put together from the results found the media, arts and entertainment sectors were “hotspots” of bullying and that the there were “exceptionally high” levels reported in the newspaper sector.
Around 4pc of the respondents – approximately 160 – worked in newspapers and around half of these are thought to come from the regional press, although the union has declined to give precise numbers.
Of those questioned, 56pc in total said they had been bullied, harassed or discriminated against, with this rising to 74pc for national newspapers and 100pc for regional newsrooms.
NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: “It has been heart-breaking to deal with members whose dreams have been shattered because of the behaviour of their managers and of failure of employers to tackle bullying and bullies.
“I have heard testimonies from members who said, ‘News editors threw reporters on to the same story, everyone was terrified of putting a foot wrong. People were put under such pressure. Reporters were effectively encouraged to shaft each other. It was such a demoralising situation’ and from women journalists who had been offered promotion in return for having sex with their boss.
“We chose Creating without Conflict as the title of this conference and campaign because we want to promote workplaces where workers and managers learn to be constructive with their criticism during the creative process.
“Today’s conference was about how trade unions can look at solutions and strategies and work with employers to tackle this blight on the media, arts and entertainment industries.”
The Creating without Conflict report was being presented at a conference in London today and recommends better training for workers and managers in dealing with unreasonable behaviour, confidential hotlines and union recognition in workplaces.
The report was written by Cathy John, a senior lecturer in cultural theory and policy at Arts University Bournemouth.
Of the newspaper journalists who completed the survey, 72.3pc said that the perpetrator of the bullying was either a line manager or editor.
The results showed only a third of those who suffered bullying in the creative industries reported the incidents and eight out of ten women who were bullied said their gender was a factor, with incidents reported from lewd comments to sexual assault.
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Don’t know why it’s taken ‘a senior lecturer in cultural theory and policy’ to report this. I was bullied and harassed as a young reporter three decades ago by various editors and news editors. The difference is that back then there were plenty of other jobs to escape to if things got too hot…as long as you possessed a thick file of decent cuttings. Today, I feel sorry for young hacks having to soak up abuse because there are so few paid reporting opportunities around.
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I thought it went with the territory. Whoever heard of an editor or news editor worth his salt who was soft?
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How much you excuse when you say this.
That’s right – just normalise it.
Sorry I don’t think anyone would go into any industry to be ill treated
I think we’ve just been provided with an excellent example of why this persists.
You can do your job properly without stooping to bullying surely?
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Oh, I would never condone ill treatment. On the other hand, when I joined my first daily it was par for the course to be scolded frequently and kept under pressure every minute of the shift. There is a difference. Maybe times have changed.
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Can’t say who I am but I have had long connection with papers. Over the years I have met some very unhappy people who have used me as a ‘listening post’, At times I have been open mouthed at some of the things related to me.
I have also seen it with my own eyes – particularly exploitation and over work – long hours and the lack of interest from superiors who are merely ensuring this OWN position and promotion.
Then again, I could mention one or two editors who have been exactly the opposite and who do consider the morale of their staff.
The number of jobs has dropped dramatically, so editors know this and think they can get away with bad behaviour because staff cannot move as easily as they did twenty years ago when jobs were ten a penny.
.
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i assume Tab Loyd is joking? or is he living in the 70s??
no one should ever accept or expect bullying in any form and it most certainly doesnt go with the territory,its not just hacks either it seems,i knew many sales people in Norfolk who were constantly bullied,harrangued and belittled,often in front of their colleagues by their line managers,people who ruled by fear just to cover their own failings,sad to say many decent people resigned or went off with stress related problems,it appears to be rife in this industry and will do until someone takes action to stamp bullying out
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If it takes bullying to be “non-soft” then it shows the editor/news editor is not up to managing staff. A good leader is one that has the respect of their staff and this is gained by having good leadership qualities. I was bullied by a weak leader who got there by being able to talk the talk.
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There is no place for bullying in journalism today. In my day, picking on people and sexual harassment were rife and largely ignored by management.
Editors who shouted and blustered about the office often caused more mistakes by their actions than those who remained calm.
You have to be firm, but you also have to be cool-headed.
Often, appearing “tough” was a cover for inadequacy. You had editors and news editors who were frightened to write a sentence in case they got something wrong, yet they would shout and ridicule staff in front of colleagues.
How did they get the job in the first place, you ask?
They were friends of the proprietors who knew they wouldn’t rock the boat as long as the advertising revenue was pouring in.
Such people often relied on “old hands” such as chief subs or deputies to avoid libel allegations etc.
These comic book characters need to be kept out of journalism. Thank God for modern legislation against this sort of behaviour.
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I was right. Times have changed and it is a different culture.
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Ultimately, it’s the paper that suffers when staff are bullied. I’ve seen it right the way through my career.
Not overt bawling out, but people being denied opportunities because their faces didn’t fit, being hauled over the coals for minor errors while others made much bigger mistakes which were just laughed off and hard working staff being denied merit pay rises while others who put in less effort and fewer hours were lauded and given the nicest jobs in the department.
Eventually people who were badly treated either took their bats home or took their talents elsewhere. Toxic management has a lot to answer for.
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As a former editor I can say without hesitation that journalists perform best when they are in a friendly environment.
An editor’s job is to get valued staff to enjoy working for him/her in an office where hard work and genuine ability are valued.
Editors who abuse staff are bad managers. No-one works well when subjected to threats and abuse.
If staff need to be kicked and bullied into doing their jobs, then they shouldn’t really be employed at all.
Editors who get the right people around them need only to direct and fine-tune their efforts while leading from the front.
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Hear, hear, Babble – spot on comments.
There are doubtless some unhappy incidents, as there are in every industry, but for this report to claim there is a culture of bullying is complete cobblers.
It’s a high pressure business and some people can’t handle some of the stresses and strains that come with that – but anyone working for one of the big publishing companies will be only too aware that you just can’t get away with such behaviour, not that you should ever want to.
As an experienced manager, I have had to answer three separate accusations of bullying and harassment in recent years, complete with all the associated angst and HR interviews and the like, from staff who were playing the system when being asked (and expected) to improve their performance to acceptable levels.
In each case I had a full paper trail of meetings, objectives, assessment and so on and each was dismissed, but that didn’t make it any less stressful.
But it takes time to learn those management (and admin) skills, I worry for those with much less experience who may be stepping up into bigger roles after the bloodletting of recent years and may not be equipped to handle a tricky member of staff, or a complaint.
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Not a regular poster of comments but this article and thread caught my eye.
I spent more than 8 years in journalism where I never really encountered bullying personally, just perhaps the odd boss who was a bit of a tool. I’ve just started in PR and am staggered by the tales…including incidents with my new boss. My friends in the PR community tell me the industry “is full of psychos” and what I’m now dealing with isn’t that uncommon.
Perhaps journalists don’t have it so bad after all. Remember, this survey and report is about the creative industries as a whole. Its appearance on HTFP is what has focused this thread on newspaper newsrooms only.
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One of the most effective ways of curtailing bullying is the advent of huge, open-plan offices. A boss is much less likely to bully someone if 40/50 people are watching.
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