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Regional press news - this story published 22 February 2008

Journalism union facing financial crisis

by holdthefrontpage staff

"Newspapers like factories" and a "growing financial crisis" – just two of the issues pinpointed by the National Union of Journalists in its 2007 annual report.

The union is facing a downturn in membership subscriptions but highlights some success in pay disputes and redundancy packages.

To combat some of the financial losses, the latest edition of NUJ magazine The Journalist is now only available online. If the moves becomes permanent, it could save the union at least £120,000 per year.

The report said: "At the moment, we are not in the financial crisis of years ago but under tight financial constraints.

"This situation can be managed with extremely tight budgeting which, put simply, means matching spending to income.

"The minute anyone loses sight of the need to do this and then build reserves our assets will become vulnerable and we will be hurtling headlong into another financial crisis."

Key points raised in the report are:

For the second year in a row the NUJ has an operating deficit in its general fund of £87,994 – a three-fold increase on previous financial year. Key contributor to this was a shortfall of £112,000 in expected subscription income.

The NUJ suffered a net loss of 226 members at the end of the 2006/07 financial year.

The National Executive Council at the NUJ has injected £1.7m into the staff pension scheme meaning the union will be required to exercise even tighter budget controls.

The last year has seen "significant cost cutting and redundancies" in newsrooms. This, coupled with the transition towards new media integration, has had a significant impact on working lives of journalists.

Bullying is being used to increase unrealistic work schedules, with some contractual changes turning newspapers into factories.

Landmark agreements at Yorkshire Post and Guardian/Observer over transition to multimedia working remain exception rather than rule.

Substantial settlements obtained for members in the press who have been unfairly dismissed, had contracts broken and received back-dated pay claims.

NUJ recognition has been increased at Northcliffe, one the UK's biggest publishers of regional newspapers. However, attendances at group chapels have dropped. Some group chapel meetings even at to be cancelled.

A copy of the full annual report can be read at the NUJ's website.