Ask for our printed edition
|
Ask for our printed edition |
|
|
Helsinki Edition About Us |
Free lunch for all What do you think British Journalists talk about when they get together? You might be pleasantly surprised. The National Union of Journalists in the UK and Ireland have 31,625 members. I, as one of the 3,634 student members, was invited to attend a seminar in Manchester to discuss equality within the Industry. It sounded like a bit of a dry subject, but I thought it would be a good opportunity to meet working journalists...and get a free lunch. The seminar began around 11am rather informally. Speakers simply sat around a table with the rest of us, and talked to us instead of lecturing. The subjects raised were equality for female journalists, disabled equality, and Lesbian and Gay equality. The seminar was a real eye-opener for me. I was told that I will begin earning the same as male co-workers, but will gradually earn less as I get older, for doing the same job as them. Which wasn't the only thing to anger me. Suzanne Bull, from Artsline Disability magazine, brought to my attention how publications were offensive to disabled people, almost without noticing. Her exchange of letters with one national weekly over the offence caused by the term 'spack-head' could make an article in itself. Over lunch, a few of the freelance writers attending the seminar swopped ideas and hints, while I absorbed it all. One woman advised us never to sell papers your copyright on a story. One newspaper faxed her a contract for a story and she faxed it back with her response : 'Bollocks.' Another told me she regularly sells the same story to several different Sunday papers, all of whom print it. One woman had just qualified as a postgraduate in magazine journalism, and was working for the Mirror Group. I was delighted to find out she didn't know shorthand, which was the hardest part of my course. They were all curious to meet a student member, and got nostalgic about their own training. It is amazing to see how much inequality the world of journalism actually still has. The NUJ are currently backing Sports journalist Rachael Anderson, who was refused admission to a media sport meeting for the henious crime of being female. What a strange, backward industry I have chosen to join. Media - average hourly earnings (pounds sterling per hour) Men: 8.54 Women: 5.78 Source: Labour Force Survey, 1997 Donna Sheffield |
|
|
|