The Scottish branch of the National Union of Journalists has written to sports editors across Scotland asking them to stop using ‘amateur’ journalists to cover matches.

The new campaign, called Kick the Amateurs into Touch’, is hoping to maximise the number of real journalists reporting at sports events, particularly football matches.

Its letter says the campaign has a number of aims including putting a stop to what it calls the “falling standards in the Scottish press through the creeping menace of ‘citizen journalists’.

The union says it is “scandal” when journalists miss out on work, only to be replaced unqualified journalists with no training, and plenty of press boxes this season had fans with computer filing copy to newspapers.

“The union recognises the pressures every desk and editor is under to cut costs but where an event is being covered anyway, we just ask you to consider using a professional journalist,” the NUJ said.

“The regular professionals who are still asked to cover games are sick of working next to the growing army of amateurs.

“They are worried about falling editorial standards and their livelihood driven down by cheap labour or people with second jobs.

“This season is almost over but plans need to be made to handle the fixtures from August and we hope you can help us raise industry standards and ethics by commissioning proper freelance reporters and photographers.”

Comments

Mediawatcher (16/04/2010 09:22:14)
It’s all a bit late. What about the ‘journalists’ who are running community websites for major newspaper groups. The need for subs has largely gone, reporters will follow as these sites burgeon. It;’s a bit like the union action after the major newspaper groups decimated production and subbing jobs…too little, too late. I hope our friends in the north succeed in their campaign to preserve jobs for true journalists. The truth of the matter is that amateurs are cheap – even if they have no journalistic training or experience. Money talks, money is everything to the fat cats of the newspaper world and every other industry. Good luck once again to the Scots protesters.

Oldtimer (16/04/2010 11:03:55)
I don’t know what’s worse..’amateur’ football reporters or young casual Saturday subs who manage to distort and rearrange scorers’ names and the like after you’ve filed perfectly proper – and grammatical – copy.

dontyaluvit (16/04/2010 11:13:05)
Watch the new scam. Unpaid inexperienced interns to save paying experienced hacks. On the pretext of doing them a favour.
Cheap. Cheap. Cheap. It’s the only way newspaper bosses think now.
Don’t wait for lost staff to be replaced if there is ever a recovery. It never happens.

semi-retired (16/04/2010 15:45:09)
Take a look at some of the local papers. There are already plenty of amateurs filling the staff gaps, judging by the quality of writing and presentation.
Those that do know what they are doing are now too over-worked to keep up standards.

Yours in Sport (19/04/2010 12:05:40)
As a weekly sports editor, I rely on so-called amateurs to file reports. Considering the latest story on this website reveals how journalists struggle with basic spelling, it’s reassuring to know that my band of ‘citizen journalists’ get it right week in, week out, and help my paper deliver top quality sports coverage. If I was to kick the amateurs into touch, I would have to appeal to my editor to take on at least three full-time reporters. Or pay a large amount of cash to a freelancer to get it wrong on my behalf.