Careers in journalism are becoming increasingly remote for people from disadvantaged backgrounds, the National Union of Journalists has claimed.
In a submission to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Social Mobility inquiry into access into leading professions, the union said too many people are being priced out of pursuing a career in the industry – with wages even on national newspapers being too low to keep up with the cost of living in London.
A survey of 700 journalists by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found one in five journalists earn less than £19,200 a year, putting many below the living wage, while 83pc in their mid to late twenties earn less than £29,000.
The union’s submission also touched on issues including race, class and “institutionalised” unpaid internships as reasons why the media is “over-represented by people from privileged backgrounds”.
Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: “The union looks forward to hearing the employers’ responses to the All Party Parliamentary Group inquiry and what they are doing to open up the industry to the socially disadvantaged because too many people are being simply priced out of the profession.
“They also lack the networks of the old school tie that still hold sway when people are recruited to the plum jobs.
“It is vital that a modern, democratic nation has a media that reflects all its citizens and is not a redoubt of the privileged classes.
“The management of the mainstream media is also the loser if it is not prepared to look for talent beyond a cohort of people who looks like itself.”
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The NUJ has been flogging this message for decades. Why not tell us something we don’t know?
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Regional, I don’t think the situation has ever been as bad.
Journalism used to be a trade rather than a profession, some of the best editors I ever knew had joined straight from school and were pretty hard fellas. There’s an inherent strength in having people like that holding politicians to account.
One of the many problems with our system now is that the people holding politicians to account (arf!) are from the same background. They have the same schooling, same outlook, probably the same friends.
The use of interns and short term contracts is a massive problem. I don’t think organisations set out to employ only middle class staff, but by the nature of the way they employ people that’s all they’re going to get.
The BBC is a case in point. It came to the North with the idea of spreading the wealth, but they only hand out short term contracts – if you go to work at Salford you’ll probably be on three month contracts forever, if you’re lucky. Also, many of their posts are also advertised internally.
I’ve been to several open days at Salford Quays where they’ve admitted quite brazenly that the way to get into the BBC is ‘get a foot in the door’, i.e work under those conditions and hope someone takes a shine to you.
Anybody with bills to pay, kids, or just a wee bit of self respect, isn’t going to bother with that. So what you end up with is an army of young, well heeled kids with money or parents to fall back on. Now and again they might try and redress the balance in forced fashion by putting a dragnet through Moss Side or something and having a few northerners spend the day learning how to twiddle a knob on a mixing desk at 5Live maybe, but that’s about as good as it gets.
I’ve never understood why they can’t just – you know – advertise jobs, interview poeple and, dunno, give them jobs?
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Maybe someone should tell Michelle that there’s people in their mid – ok, late – 50s who are earning under £29,000 a year, never mind people in their late to mid 20s. But as we were told when we first joined this circus, we don’t get rich out of journalism. Most of us, anyway.
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Why single out people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Careers in journalism are becoming increasingly remote for everyone. I can’t understand why anyone would believe there’s a future in the game.
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