DANGEROUS WORK The mental health risks of journalism - MAGAZINE OF THE NATIONAL UNION OF JOURNALISTS
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M A G A Z I N E O F T H E N AT I O N A L U N I O N O F J O U R N A L I S T S
WWW.NUJ.ORG.UK | APRIL-MAY 2021
DANGEROUS
WORK
The mental health risks of journalism
Contents
“
Main feature
14 Strains of stress
Mental health and journalism
S
afety has been on all our minds over the
News
past year amid the pandemic.
03 BBC moves jobs out of London
But while the coronavirus threat is Specialist teams to be relocated
thankfully receding at the moment, 04 From Brixton to BLM
there are many other risks that A persepective on combatting racism
journalists face on a daily basis.
The demands of a exacting, deadline-driven 05 R
each closes newsrooms
job which can involve dealing with traumatic news events take Radical move to homeworking
their toll on mental health as our cover feature by Samir Jeraj 07 Members stressed by the pandemic
explores. Survey finds isolation and anxiety
And increasingly journalists are facing physical and verbal
Features
intimidation for just doing their jobs as Neil Merrick reports
in his feature. We also have a report from the TUC’s women’s
conference on an NUJ motion about the spiralling abuse of 10 Spotlight on Liverpool
women journalists. How journalism is faring in the city
Help is hopefully at hand to tackle intimidation after the
creation of a government-launched national plan for the safety 12 Pandemic of abuse
of journalists. The NUJ contributed to the drafting of the plan How we can make journalism safer
and will help monitor how journalists are protected in the 16 Weathering a storm
future.
Looking back to 1921
In the wake of Piers Morgan’s resignation, Raymond Snoddy
looks at other high-profile departures and the reasons behind
them. Regulars
And on a lighter note now Spring is here, our regular media
anniversary feature looks at the rise of the weather forecasters. 21 Technology
Wishing everyone a return to more normal life. Stay safe. 24 Obituaries
25 And finally...
”
Christine Buckley
Editor
@mschrisbuckley
Editor NUJ Arts
journalist@nuj.org.uk 72 Acton Street Page
London WC1X 9NB
Design
Surgerycreations.com info@nuj.org.uk 20
info@surgerycreations.com www.nuj.org.uk
Advertising Tel: 020 7843 3700
Ray
Melanie Richards
Tel: 07494975239
Manchester office
nujmanchester@nuj.org.uk Snoddy
ads@journalistmagazine.co.uk Glasgow office Page 19
Print
Letters and
nujscotland@nuj.org.uk
Warners Cover picture
Dublin office
Steve Bell
www.warners.co.uk Gary Neill
info@nuj.ie
Distribution
GB Mail
www.gb-mail.co.uk
ISSN: 0022-5541
Page 22-23
02 | theJournalist
news
400 jobs moving out of inbrief...
London in BBC shake-up
RECORD COMPLAINTS
OVER PIERS MORGAN
“
Two episodes of Good Morning
Britain in which Piers Morgan made
THE BBC is shifting 400 roles moves, raising expectations comments about the Duchess of
BBC
out of London including that there could be a series of Sussex’s interview with Oprah
whole specialist teams in one high-profile departures. Winfrey that led to him quitting the
of the biggest changes to its There are plans to create show, have attracted the most
structure. 150 jobs will be 56 new roles mostly in digital Teams covering complaints to the TV regulator ever.
scrapped rather than moved and and because some Ofcom said the episodes triggered
out of the capital. programmes will be regularly the environment, 57,121 complaints, surpassing the
The cuts are part of 520 job
losses across news that were
broadcast from outside
London.
technology and previous record of 44,500.
announced last year and part Paul Siegert, NUJ national education will
FACEBOOK FACES
of a £800 million savings
package across the BBC. News
broadcasting organiser, said:
“We welcome more diversity
move to Leeds, LAWSUIT IN FRANCE
is being asked to save £85 number of 6Music’s staff. and creating more content Cardiff, Glasgow and Reporters Without Borders, the
million. A third of Radio 4’s Today out of London is a good freedom of expression campaign
’Teams covering the programme will broadcast thing, as is extra investment Birmingham group, has filed a lawsuit against
environment, technology, outside London. Newsnight in apprenticeships. However, Facebook in France. It claims that
and education, will move to and Radio 4’s PM will also it’s strange that at the same the platform is not providing the
Leeds, Cardiff, Glasgow, and regularly go to other regions. time the BBC is talking about ‘safe’ online space that it promises
Birmingham. The proportion of the TV the importance of getting out for journalists and the public.
Daytime programmes on budget spent outside London of London and investing in
Radio 1, Radio 2, and 1Xtra will increase from 50 per cent the regions as a means of
will be broadcast from to 60 per cent in the next better serving the audience, it BURSARIES ON OFFER
elsewhere in the UK. seven years. has also axed 450 posts in AT THE GUARDIAN
Radio 3’s leadership team Some specialists have English regions and cut £25 The Guardian Foundation is offering
will go to Salford along with a voiced doubts about the million from that budget.” bursaries for aspiring journalists to
study for an MA in journalism. The
awards aim to help those who face
Plan to ensure journalists’ safety financial difficulty in studying, and
those from backgrounds that are
THE NUJ has welcomed a national plan sets out a range of measures attack and threaten journalists are under-represented in the media.
safety plan for journalists which was designed to ensure freelance and staff brought to justice. The application deadline is
launched by the Government in journalists are protected and A survey of NUJ members last year May 22. See https://workforus.the
response to the growing intimidation supported. It also calls on social media found that more than half of guardian.com
of reporters, photographers and other platforms to do more to stamp out respondents had experienced online
media workers. The National online abuse, and on the criminal abuse and nearly a quarter had been
Committee for the Safety of Journalists’ justice system to ensure those who physically assaulted or attacked.
Delegate meeting deadline
International drive
UNION branches have until from 6.6 per cent to 12 per on Belarus
May 14 to put late notice cent depending on members’
More than 50 leaders of journalists’ unions and
motions to the postponed incomes.
associations across Europe have written to European
delegate meeting, which is Many of the motions in the
governments and heads of state to express their
being held online on May 21 agenda are already being
and 2. Late notice motions implemented because deep concerns about the intensification of
are to enable the agenda, there was no opposition from the repression of journalists in Belarus. The
which was finalised early last the NEC. initiative was organised by the European
year, to be updated. Federation of Journalists to mark Freedom
The union’s national Day in Belarus on March 25. There are
executive council (NEC) is currently 12 journalists in jail in Belarus and
asking delegates to approve since the elections, which were
an increase in subscriptions held last August 2020 some 480
after failing to achieve an journalists have been detained.
increase at the last delegate
meeting in April 2018. The
proposed increases range
theJournalist | 03
news
From Brixton to Black Lives Matter:
international resistance to racism
“
Johannesburg-based broadcaster Jacqui Hlongwane spoke
about her late mother, Jane Hlongwane, who was general
secretary of the Steel Engineering and Allied Workers’ Union
and a Black Consciousness Movement activist, and growing up
in apartheid South Africa: “As black children, we had to go to a As black children,
different school and even a separate swimming pool.”
Hlongwane wanted to make a difference by working in the we had to go to a
media. After graduating from Witswaterand – “a top South different school
African university” – she got a job at a television station, where
she became programme manager. However, she noted: “Since and even a separate
1994, we have had black majority rule but the privileged white
minority population are doing a lot better than black people.”
swimming pool
Grassroots Black Left activist Sophia Mangera, born in South
Africa and politically active in Lewisham from her teens, spoke Jacqui Hlongwane
INTERNATIONAL speakers came together to mark the UN’s about the racist activity of the National Front that culminated in
anti-racism day in a webinar organised by the NUJ’s black the 1981 New Cross fire in which 13 young black people were
members’ council, writes Marc Wadsworth. They included a massacred. The huge Black People’s Day of Action march resulted.
senior broadcasting executive from South Africa, a Jamaican Police failed to find the murderers.
newspaper editor and a leading American civil rights lawyer. Weekly Gleaner editor George Ruddock said The Voice, a
The 40 Years of Resistance: From the Brixton Uprisings to British black national newspaper, was founded a year after the
Black Lives Matter event heard from Pan Africanist Congress of Brixton disturbances of 1981.
Azania activist Lindiwe Tsele, aged 86, who recounted what Justice4Grenfell campaign co-ordinator Yvette Williams backed
happened in 1960 in Sharpeville, South Africa, when at least 69 US speaker Vanita Banks, who answered a question by NUJ
mainly young black protesters were shot dead by police. national executive council member Natasha Hirst. Hirst asked
The protesters were peacefully demonstrating against a law what white people could do to give solidarity to black people.
that forced them to carry identity cards because they were black. Participants felt the establishment of a sustainable anti-racist
“Many of them were shot in the back when they were fleeing movement that would be a fitting tribute to fallen heroes
the scene,” said Tsele. “Apartheid was an evil form of white should be explored. They were keen the incredible Black Lives
supremacy used to oppress black people in their own country.“ Matter momentum should not be lost.
Rusbridger quits Irish media commission Greenslade, a seasoned
media commentator,
ALAN RUSBRIDGER, a former arising over his employment Times, The Sun and the concealed the fact to protect left his role as honorary
editor of The Guardian, has of a columnist who, it Daily Mirror, recently his employment. visiting professor of
left his role on Ireland’s emerged, had supported revealed that he had Rusbridger said he was journalism at City, University
Future of the Media the IRA. supported the IRA’s use leaving the commission so of London, in March after his
Commission. Roy Greenslade, a former of violence during the as not to distract from support for the IRA was
This followed controversy senior editor at The Sunday Troubles and had its work. made known.
Scan here if you care
about journalism.
04 | theJournalist
news
Reach closes newsrooms in inbrief...
radical homeworking move
TELEGRAPH PLANS TO
LINK CLICKS WITH PAY
“
The Daily Telegraph wants to link
some elements of journalists’ pay to
REACH, the publisher of the Mirror, Express there have been real difficulties that require the popularity of their work. An
and Star and more than 100 regional news help and support – so listening to individuals email to staff from editor Chris
titles, is closing most of its newsrooms and and their circumstances will be important. Evans said that the paper wanted
moving most staff permanently to largely “We should also not lose sight of to use a system that graded reports
home working. Only about a quarter of its the important symbol that the physical There have been and features by factors such as how
many subscriptions they drive and
employees will be required to work exclusively
in the office even when the pandemic has
presence of media companies has for local
communities – something recognised by
advantages for how many clicks they get to link
receded. the NUJ’s news recovery plan.” companies and many performance to reward.
The move follows a Reach intends to operate 15
survey of Reach staff ‘hubs’, where some staff – mainly employees. For
which found that 82 per
cent thought they did
in production – will work and
others can hold meetings. These
others, there have SHEFFIELD STAR
WINS ON DIVERSITY
not need to be physically will be in Belfast, Bristol, been real difficulties The Sheffield Star won top place in
with colleagues to carry Birmingham, Dublin, Cardiff, the Diversity and Inclusion
out their work. Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, London, category at the NCTJ Awards for
Reach said there would be no redundancies Oldham, Newcastle, Nottingham, Plymouth Chris Morley Excellence after making ‘huge
in the shake-up and that homeworking would and another location in the south east. NUJ’s Reach coordinator strides in working towards a
reduce costs and help protect the future of its Mark Johnson, Reach NUJ group chapel diverse workforce’ over the past
publications. chair, said: “This is a massive project and our year, which enabled the paper ‘to
Chris Morley, the NUJ’s Reach coordinator, members will have lots to consider and say reach communities which have
said: “There have been some advantages for about the proposals. A one size fits all solution not previously engaged with
companies and many employees in terms of probably wouldn’t be the best way and we local journalists’.
better use of time, quicker communications appreciate that the company is stressing it will
and reshaping of work-life balance. For others, listen carefully to individual circumstances.”
ALDRIDGE TAKES ON
SUNDAY EDITOR ROLE
NI Assembly seeks press input long-term viability of the local
media and how the
Mirror deputy editor Gemma
Aldridge has been appointed editor
THE NORTHERN Ireland their views on the long-term in Northern Ireland to government can help. of the Sunday Mirror and Sunday
Assembly’s All-Party Group on sustainability of media respond to the consultation. The call for evidence will People. She succeeds Paul
Press Freedom and Media organisations. Media workers and outlets help to inform a recovery plan Henderson, who left in December
Sustainability has invited The NUJ has been involved across the industry are that will aim to ensure local as part of a restructuring. Aldridge
industry stakeholders to in establishing this new group encouraged to submit written media outlets survive not just remains deputy editor of the Mirror
submit evidence on the and is encouraging NUJ evidence about their beyond the coronavirus crisis alongside Tom Carlin and
impact of the pandemic and members who live and work experiences and views on the but also far into the future. Paul Cockerton.
Union condemns Bloody DMGT buys
New Scientist magazine
Sunday reporting ban Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT),
publisher of the Daily Mail, has acquired
New Scientist magazine in a £70 million
THE NUJ has condemned a decision to ban the media from
reporting the opening statements and all witness statements in deal. It is thought that DMGT, which also
the case of Soldier F in the Bloody Sunday murder inquiry. owns the i and Metro, has guaranteed the
Soldier F is the only ex-British army paratrooper facing murder 65-year-old title’s editorial independence
charges arising from the killings of 13 civilians in the Bogside area and has ruled out job cuts and the sharing
of Londonderry on January 30 1972. of editorial content. The publisher said
At a preliminary hearing, as well as confirming that the the acquisition was part of its strategy to
anonymity put in place last year would continue, District Judge boost its revenue through greater
Ted Magill banned the reporting. He said that it was a question subscriptions and digital capabilities.
of law. New Scientist employs about
Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said the ruling 80 staff, including
went against the principle of open justice and the need for the 40 journalists.
criminal justice system to operate in public and be subject to
public scrutiny.
theJournalist | 05
news
TUC supports women journalists
over ‘highly damaging’ abuse
“
THE TUC’s women’s conference has passed an emergency NUJ and withdrawing from online spaces because of abuse.
motion on the spiralling abuse of female journalists. Trade unionists representing members in schools, shops and
The NUJ highlighted the cases of Northern Ireland reporter hospitals described the level of abuse many women experience
Patricia Devlin, who was subjected to threats including graffiti during their working lives.
of her name against the crosshairs of a gun and Nadine The conference heard how domestic abuse Online abuse of
White (see story on the opposite page), has increased under the Covid-19 restrictions,
who was smeared online by government of the stubborn statistic that on average a journalists is highly
minister Kemi Badenoch for asking a woman is killed by a man every three days gendered and is a
question on a story. and other findings outlined in the 2019
The motion said: “Such attacks not only Femicide report. form of discrimination
harm the individuals concerned but also
normalise and legitimise the harassment of
Natasha said: “Online abuse of journalists
is highly gendered and is a form of
and violence
journalists at work, which is highly discrimination and violence against women. against women
damaging to the critical role that journalism It’s intersectional too, with black women
plays in our democracy.” journalists being especially targeted.”
Natasha Hirst, chair of the NUJ’s equality She said that, as female colleagues are Natasha Hirst
council, called on other unions for support being forced to withdraw from online NUJ equality council
in pushing for each recommendation to platforms, all our rights, freedoms and
be implemented. opportunities are compromised when that
She said: “We all know that abuse thrives behind closed journalist’s voice is silenced.
doors. It thrives when people choose to look away. It thrives The TUC’s women’s committee agreed to express solidarity
when we do not actively challenge it. This is why I am a trade with women journalists and lobby for greater sanctions against
unionist. the perpetrators of abuse.
“Collectively, we bring solidarity and action to challenge NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet has played a key
gender-based violence in all of its forms. So, sisters, let’s use role on the government and industry’s National Committee for
our voices to drown out the trolls and the abusers and take the Safety of Journalists, and an action plan containing
action to make it stop.” powerful recommendations to tackle violence, abuse and
Hirst told the conference that female writers are self-censoring harassment of journalists in the UK.
Call to improve equality at work women do not know if they
are paid less than their male
justice. This needs to change.
“As the #MeToo
counterparts, she said. movement has clearly
TOUGHER laws are needed the TUC’s women’s equal pay, you need Lewis said the Equal Pay shown, it can take a long
to improve employment conference. transparency”. Act needed strengthening time for women to report
equality, particularly as Lewis highlighted the That is why the NUJ, because there are too few incidents. The NUJ also has
women have borne the proposed EU directive on unlike the government, had sanctions for breaches. evidence of employers
brunt of the economic pay transparency, quoting supported Stella Creasy’s She said: “The three- delaying internal
impact of the pandemic, European Commission private member’s bill to end month time limit to bring a investigations, deliberately
Sara Lewis, vice-chair of the president Ursula von der the shameful situation claim to an employment putting victims outside the
NUJ’s equality council told Leyen who said that “for where six out of 10 working tribunal is a huge barrier to time limit.”
Female Afghan TV workers killed
GHULAMULLAH HABIBI/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK
THE NUJ has joined the condemnation of the in a string of targeted attacks on media workers
killers of three female journalists from with the backdrop of US-brokered attempts to
Afghanistan’s Enikass TV. They were shot by negotiate an end to the country’s civil war.
unknown gunmen in two attacks as they Ekinass had earlier informed Afghanistan’s
attempted to return home from work in March. national intelligence agency about threats to
Mursal Wahidi, Sadia Sadat and Shahnaz its staff. The International Federation of
Roafi, who worked in Enikass TV’s dubbing Journalists and its affiliate the Afghan
division, were gunned down in different Independent Journalists’ Association called for
locations in the eastern city of Jalalabad in urgent measures to improve the safety of
Nangarh’r province. The murders are the latest media workers in the country.
06 | theJournalist
news
Majority of members feel inbrief...
stressed by pandemic
REVENUE AT REACH
DROPS 14.6 PER CENT
“
Reach, publisher of the Mirror,
Express and Star and many regional
MORE than half of NUJ members have been titles, reported a 14.6 per cent fall
concerned about their mental health during in revenue for last year to £600.2
the pandemic, according to a survey. million and an adjusted operating
Many members found that juggling work profit of £133.8 million (down 12.8
during the coronavirus restrictions caused Almost three-quarters per cent). It had an adjusted
operating profit margin of 22.3 per
stress and anxiety.
They said feelings of isolation, anxiety about
said there had been cent, up from 21.8 per cent, and a
losing their jobs, symptoms of long Covid and redundancies and net cash balance of £42 million. .
higher workloads led to depression and
insomnia. Juggling childcare, home schooling 85 per cent believed
and getting work done was taking its toll, with
45 per cent saying they had problems coping. Compared with last spring, fewer editorial
the continuing crisis FIRST WOMAN EDITOR
OF FT’S THE BANKER
Almost three-quarters (72 per cent) said staff were on furlough – 14 per cent compared would lead to further The FT’s The Banker magazine has
a female editor for the first time in
there had been redundancies and 85 per cent
believed the continuing crisis would lead to
to 45 per cent. However, some staff at
JPI Media have been off work since April.
job cuts its 95-year history. Joy Macknight
further job cuts. Some of those working from home said has succeeded Brian Caplen who
Some 61 per cent said their income had employers made few or no allowances for retired after 18 years in the role.
been affected by the pandemic, with 13 per coping with home schooling. Some had been She joined The Banker in 2015 as
cent losing all their income and 35.5 per cent encouraged to take holidays or unpaid leave transaction banking and
earning less than half. One in six freelances to look after their children. technology editor and was then
said their work had decreased sharply or dried The survey, which had 840 respondents, promoted to deputy editor and
up completely, with 13 per cent saying their was carried out between the end of 2020 and managing editor.
work had increased or there had been little the beginning of 2021.
impact. Strains of stress, pages 14-15
FIELDING AND GIGGS
RECEIVE DAMAGES
Third of LGBT+ members harassed at work Noel Fielding and Rhodri Giggs,
Ryan Giggs’ estranged brother, have
ALMOST one-third (29 per at work because of their However, almost 70 per cent Two-thirds had not accepted ‘substantial damages’
cent) of NUJ members sexuality or gender identity. said their workplace was an experienced any workplace from the publisher of the News of
surveyed during February’s Colleagues were the worst inclusive, safe space to be policies denying them equal the World over phone hacking. A
LGBT+ History month said perpetrators, followed by open about their sexuality. access to employment rights solicitor said Fielding thought
they had experienced senior managers; one in 10 Just under half (49 per cent) or workplace benefits. articles published in 2006-2010
bullying, harassment, ill said an interviewee had been said the same about gender There were 284 contained private information.
treatment or discrimination discrimintory or bullying. identity. respondents to the survey.
NUJ Extra extends Covid help Nadine White goes
to the independent
NUJ EXTRA, the union’s is available). It doesn’t matter Huffpost reporter Nadine White has been
welfare charity, has started a whether or not you have
appointed the first race correspondent for The
third wave of support for claimed before.
Independent. White experienced a large amount
members who have suffered If you are claiming for the
of online abuse after equalities minister Kemi
financially as a result of first time and would have
Covid-19 and lockdowns. benefited from previous Badenoch tweeted screenshots of the reporter’s
It has committed to helping support, your payment will emails asking why the minister hadn’t taken
with funding until restrictions be backdated. part in a video encouraging ethnic minorities
are due to end on June 21. NUJ Extra trustees are to get the Covid-19 vaccine. It is thought to
Members should contact concerned that members may be the first time a news organisation has
NUJ Extra using the form on be unaware of the scheme or appointed a correspondent specifically
the website (a paper version feel they do not deserve it. focused on race. The Independent said it
wanted to increase its coverage of
issues affecting the lives of
people of colour.
theJournalist | 07
Russia
Moscow raises
on Russia from Lenin to Putin. That
something related to the Soviet role in
the war. “Any kind of suggestion that
their World War II record is not spotless
the temperature
is badly received here.”
The approach taken when the
Western media raises questions about
amid pandemic
Russian or Soviet narratives has
evolved since the Cold War. The
Kremlin has gone on the offensive.
As Dmitri Trenin, the director of the
Carnegie Moscow Center, put it in his
2016 essay, Should We Fear Russia?
“Rather than hushing up criticism of
Russia and its leaders, which the Soviet
Union practised all the time, the
Russian state-run media attack this
criticism immediately, head-on, and
seek to demolish the western story.”
Matthew Chance has reported from
Moscow for CNN since the late 1990s.
His experience in the latter part of
his time there tends to confirm
that. “We’re seen more as
hostile actors in their world,”
he told me. “It translates into
Pressure on foreign reporters in Russia the way we’re spoken to, into
the access we’ve got, which is
has been growing, says James Rodgers negligible, and just the
general climate of distrust of
the foreign media that is
T
he pandemic has with the UK, continue to sour. The cultivated by the authorities and
sparked the latest distrust and disapproval are mutual. by pro-Russian outlets.”
flashpoint between the “The growing anti-western rhetoric in The way the Financial Times and the
Kremlin and Moscow’s Russia makes reporting from here New York Times reported Russia’s
foreign press corps. challenging,” says the reporter. “The coronavirus death toll is a case in point.
The race to create and distribute portrayal of the West in the Russian Although the papers based their stories
vaccines has become a matter not just state media as waging some kind of on data released by officials in Moscow,
of public health but also national pride. campaign to undermine Moscow means in May last year, the Russian foreign
The Sputnik V vaccine has been Russia’s that western journalists are often viewed ministry dismissed the reporting as
representative in the competition for here, wrongly, as having an anti-Russia ‘anti-Russia allegations’.
perceived scientific supremacy (and agenda – simply not the case.” “These publications are incorrect,
commercial gain). In at least one case, journalists have biased and provide an unacceptably
“
Because that competition has played been threatened with prosecution. lopsided picture,” said ministry
out in the international media, Moscow Take the sensitive issue of the Soviet spokesperson Maria Zakharova
correspondents have been dragged in. victory in World War II – sensitive as it (pictured), although she stopped short
“That’s where we in particular have has become a cornerstone of President of acting on suggestions from some
felt most pressure – in our reporting of Vladimir Putin’s idea of Russia as a Russian parliamentarians that the two
both the development of the vaccine great and courageous nation, capable papers be stripped of their accreditation.
and its distribution around the world,”
says a news editor for a major
of withstanding threats of invasion
from the west.
That’s where we In all this, there is good news for
today’s Moscow correspondents. They
international media organisation. “In Even today, journalists mention the have felt most may be offered negligible access, but
ITAR-TASS NEWS AGENCY / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
pressure – in our
fact, on that latter subject, we have come Molotov-Ribbentrop pact – a non- their work does get read at the highest
under a good deal of official pressure.” aggression agreement reached between level – and taken seriously. Why else
A foreign reporter based in Russia Stalin’s Soviet Union and Hitler’s reporting of both would the Russian state media try to
agrees: “The Russian authorities are Germany in 1939 – at their peril. ‘demolish’ their stories?
increasingly sensitive to criticism “I once had somebody send to me on the development of
on a wide range of topics from the
coronavirus pandemic to human rights.”
WhatsApp, statutes from the Russian
Criminal Code when we’d written
the vaccine and its James Rodgers completed postings
in Moscow for Reuters TV and the
The history of the treatment of something that they didn’t like,” one distribution around BBC during the 1990s and 2000s.
Assignment Moscow: Reporting
the world
western correspondents in Russia is also long-serving western correspondent in
the history of Russia’s relations with the Moscow told me in an interview for my on Russia from Lenin to Putin, is
west. Today, those relations, especially book, Assignment Moscow: Reporting published by IB Tauris
08 | theJournalist
viewpoint
Ethics should be at the
centre of journalism
A charity is working to make this happen, says David Hencke
I
n an age of fake news Network (EJN), a small charity ethics module or, more ambitiously, a
and when the operating at both national and book alongside Essential Law
distinction between international levels, is so very for Journalists.
professional important in this very dangerous, Another issue that the EJN is
journalists and difficult age. highlighting (in a series of online
bloggers is becoming blurred, the On the international stage media is panels) is the highly controversial
ethics of publishing information are under threat, whether it is the 119 question of regulating social media.
becoming increasingly important. journalists murdered by corrupt Should it be self-regulating, should it
How do journalists distinguish politicians or drug cartels in Mexico or be regulated by national governments
between fact and fiction, comment and censorship of the free press in Hong or should the giants of social media set
reporting? Does the internet foster a Kong or Hungary. up proper accountability mechanisms?
greater exchange of views or confirm The charity is being revamped. It has And, since it is an international issue, is
people’s prejudices in their own silos? a very ambitious agenda and plans to there a role for the UN?
Thirty years ago, it was much reach out to schools and universities as Since it is such a huge subject, the
simpler. Print newspapers and TV were well as to working journalists and possibilities for bringing the issue of
the gatekeepers – if professional photographers. It holds webinars with ethics into journalism are endless.
journalists didn’t report or comment experts to address the reporting of The diverse EJN committee is
about something, it didn’t exist in the controversial issues, whether domestic buzzing with ideas. I am keen to link
public mind. The main issue then was abuse, the science of Covid 19 or the with the Migration Museum - the UK’s
the conglomeration of media power power of internet moguls in the first museum celebrating the diversity
within fewer and fewer hands. information age. of migration – to debate the coverage
Then there was a short, liberating I am one member of the 20-strong of this issue, which can be extremely
“
period with the spread of the internet UK national committee of journalists toxic.
when anyone could say and report and academics that is drawing up a Or there is another toxic issue –
what they wanted. Citizen journalism programme which, if successful, could reporting racism – including
exploded on the scene and traditional make journalistic ethics mainstream everything from Black Lives Matter and
mainstream media was put on rather than a side issue or an option. the so-called ‘woke’ culture to the
the defensive. The charity has signed up with government’s defence of what it
Now we have the worst of all worlds. Speakers for Schools so its members Ethics are reduced believes is British history and culture.
Mainstream media is owned by can go out and talk to young people The charity is going to set up an
oligarchs, hedge funds and powerful about being a journalist and working to an algorithm. international committee that will deal
individuals. Social media is dominated for media organisations. They can Your moral compass with the problems and ethical issues
by the duopoly of Facebook and Google discuss issues such as fake news journalists face when reporting abroad.
which are so powerful that whether and how to distinguish it from is whether what Without doubt, there is a real need
you are the president of the United
States or a nation state like Australia,
fact-based news as well as how to
source and rate information from
you write leads to for journalism, from mainstream
media to the individual blogger, to
the owners can silence you with one the internet. mass acceptance or regain the trust of the general public.
keystroke. The charity also wants to work That can be done only with a proper
In this day and age, ethics have been with universities that run journalism bombs. Fact or fake, grounding in ethics. Without it, all that
”
reduced to an algorithm – your moral courses. The EJN is asking the 75 UK it matters not is left is propaganda, fake news and a
compass is whether what you write leads journalism course providers whether culture of mutual distrust and hate.
to mass acceptance or bombs without they include any teaching on ethics
trace. Fact or fake, it matters not. and, if they do, what this includes. The https://ethicaljournalismnetwork.
That is why the Ethical Journalism ultimate aim is to create a national org
theJournalist | 09
Pandemic of
Intimidation of journalists is increasing, A study in 2020 by Samantha Harman, former editor of the
Oxford Mail, found cases of journalists being diagnosed with
especially online. Neil Merrick reports anxiety or depression after receiving abuse. Some had been
forced to move home, or even left the profession.
L
ike many journalists, Anna Riley is used to Harman, now a freelance and course leader in journalism at
being criticised on Facebook and other Oxford Brookes University, surveyed more than 400
social media. journalists, mostly through regional publishers. Four out of
Her writing has been compared with that of five said online abuse had increased since they had started in
a 13-year-old, while one person called her a journalism. Eighty-nine per cent had received abuse on
‘real life Miss Hitler’. She has also been urged her to ‘go die’. Facebook and 67 per cent on Twitter.
But should any reporter be required to put up with this For Harman, the problem became starker when she realised
type of trolling or abuse? Riley, who works for Hull Live, it was affecting her view of the world. Driving home at night
enjoys writing opinion pieces that both entertain and inform. after deleting abusive comments left by readers, she began
They also lead to having a relatively high local profile. to wonder if the people leaving such messages might attack
She once lived off a food bank parcel for a week, and then her or her house. “You wonder if the person who left that
did the same with petrol station food. She also wrote about abusive message is standing behind you in the coffee shop,”
her boyfriend moving in with her during lockdown, as well as she says.
people’s reactions when she wore a face mask on a bus. Female journalists seem to bear the brunt of attacks.
While Riley accepts it is legitimate for people to have Last year, right-wing activist James Goddard was given a
opinions about what she writes, too often it degenerates into restraining order by magistrates after shouting abuse at
personal attacks. Even on a day off, she can find herself Lizzie Dearden, The Independent’s home affairs and
deleting comments on Facebook after one of her pieces security correspondent.
goes live. “I don’t think the news desk has the capacity,” Amy Fenton was forced to leave Barrow-in-Furness after
she says. facing a torrent of abuse, including a threat of rape, for court
51%
There seems little doubt that abuse and harassment of stories she wrote as chief reporter of the Mail, the town’s
journalists is increasing, especially online. An NUJ survey last daily paper.
year found that 51 per cent of journalists had experienced According to a study by the International Centre for
online abuse during the previous 12 months. Of these, one in Journalists, female journalists face daily online abuse, which
five said it was a regular experience – sometimes weekly or of journalists can invade their private lives and lead to psychological
even daily. problems as well as physical violence.
When Riley wrote about being trolled, it led to a hate had faced abuse It is not only female reporters who suffer harassment. Liam
group being created on Facebook. “On Twitter you can block in the previous Thorp, political editor at the Liverpool Echo, used Twitter to
people. On Facebook, you must read it before you delete it,” publicise the contents of an email he received warning him
she says. 12 months his ‘judgment will be due very soon’.
Attacks on the streets
responsible for the Parkinson, who works Hirst, chair of the
lockdown and pandemic. mainly for Associated NUJ’s photographers’
Anti-lockdown Press and Getty Images, council, says hostility
FREELANCE video central London he once Lives Matter, someone protests by conspiracy believes it is vitally from the public is
journalist Jason had both his head and threw a large rock at his theorists are especially important to tell the especially worrying.
Parkinson is used to camera smashed with a knee. “It was clearly a dangerous. story – whether it is a “Sometimes it’s a
facing harassment and broomstick during an targeted attack,” he says. “There is constant far-right protest, or problem when you take
abuse when he is anarchists’ Things have got worse harassment by people breaking pictures of people
out filming. demonstration.. over the past few years, everyone,” he says. lockdown rules by not shopping or in the park,”
In 2011, he was Last summer, while partly due to ‘fake news’ “I have been verbally socially distancing in she says.
detained by secret police covering the far-right and Covid-19. Some abused by elderly women a park. “They assume the
in Cairo while covering protest in Trafalgar people claim, as a and people try to rip the The element of risk photographer is trying to
the Arab Spring. In Square against Black journalist, he is mask off your face.” is growing. Natasha make them look bad.”
12 | theJournalistsafety
abuse
“
The problem can be exacerbated by pressure on journalists liaison officer, while online platforms that fail to protect users
to gain a high profile, in the community. Publication of their will face sanctions, including fines of up to 10 per cent of
pictures makes them even more vulnerable. This is not turnover or having services blocked. A forthcoming online
something young reporters are generally prepared for, which safety bill will enshrine protections for journalistic content
creates pressure on news editors and editors to offer pastoral Levels of public and free debate online in law.
support. NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet, a committee
“We don’t build it into our training programmes,” says discourse are member, says the action plan must be the start of a process
Harman. “We say ‘you must have a Facebook profile and have
people connect with you’. The more high profile you are, the
parlous and that leads to journalists working without fear of abuse
or harassment.
more abuse you attract. It shouldn’t be the price you pay.”
In January, Harman presented her findings to the National
have been for “It’s a major plan that involves a lot of major stakeholders,”
she adds. “It addresses a lot of difficulties our members are
Committee for the Safety of Journalists, set up by the many years. finding on the ground.”
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Its By and large, says Michelle, the response of publishers has
members include representatives from the police and the Journalists are been poor, although there are isolated examples of publishers
Crown Prosecution Service.
The police, she says, are keen for journalists to report at the sharp end taking steps, such as paying for a reporter to move home.
Ian Murray, former executive director of the Society of
serious incidents of abuse, especially when they include
of that Editors, believes threats to journalists have grown because of
”
threats of violence. “They are taking it really seriously,” she social media and politicians such as Donald Trump using the
says. “The problem before is that we were not reporting mantra of ‘fake news’ to cast aspersions on journalists’
it enough.” credibility. “What’s fuelling it is a lack of respect for
A national action plan, approved by the committee, journalists which, a fair amount of time, comes from
was published by DCMS in March. Measures include politicians and other leaders,” he says.
better training for police officers, plus a commitment In January, equalities minister Kemi Badenoch used Twitter
from social media platforms to take tough action to attack Nadine White, then of the Huff Post, describing her
against abusers. reporting as “creepy and bizarre”. The minister published
Every police force will have a designated journalist safety letters that White (now at The Independent) had sent to
Badenoch, asking for a quote for a story about Covid-19
vaccinations. Allegra Stratton, press secretary to Boris
Johnson and a former journalist, later defended Badenoch,
claiming her response had been civilised.
The NUJ survey found examples of journalists censoring
their own copy because they feared the abuse they would
otherwise receive. “Levels of public discourse are parlous and
have been for many years,” adds Michelle. “Journalists are at
the sharp end of that.”
Publishers are generally reluctant to discuss the problem.
Reach said in a statement that all incidents of abuse are
recorded, and journalists offered emotional support via its
employee assistance programme. It was unwilling to go into
further detail, while a reporter at a Reach title questioned
whether the process works effectively.
So, it is inevitable that journalists must learn to cope with
trolls, abusive comments or worse, and perhaps treat it as
part of the job? At what point do you say that enough is
enough and call it a day?
For Riley, it is partly a matter of reputation. She fears calling
somebody and being recognised as the person who receives
regular abuse on Facebook, though this has not happened yet.
“So long as it doesn’t affect my professional reputation, I will
carry on,” she says.
theJournalist | 13Strains of stress
Stressed-out journalists don’t have to moderators and support staff, we would undoubtedly get a
suffer in silence, says Samir Jeraj
higher figure. That said, it is important “not to corelate the
work of journalists with their decision to kill themselves”, says
Dr Sallyanne Duncan, a senior lecturer in journalism at the
University of Strathclyde. “Suicide is a very complex issue
D
avid had struggled with mental health with many factors in their lives that cause them to take that
problems since he was a teenager and, by the decision,” she adds. However, the lack of robust data means it
time he became a journalist, his main source is extremely difficult to see if there is evidence of such a
of support was his partner. correlation.
The unpredictable hours and stressful “I think that education in covering trauma and interviewing
situations that are routine in journalism started to have an victims of trauma is lacking in higher education,” says
impact. There were also harrowing stories that he covered, Professor Natalee Seely, who studies the effects of everyday
such as the hunt for murderer Raul Moat across Northumbria trauma on journalists in the US and found its frequency and
in 2010. Moat went on the run after killing one person and intensity were linked to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
wounding two others, finally committing suicide. “I heard the problems, even when taking into account previous personal
gunshot that he killed himself with,” he says. The shock was trauma. She worked as a reporter for four years, covering crime
almost immediate: “I remember going back that night and on her first job. “I wasn’t trained or prepared to interview
sitting on the balcony of my home and my partner waking up victims or their family members,” she remembers.
at nine o’clock in the morning and finding me drinking “There’s this idea in society that journalists are superhuman,
whisky on the balcony – I had no idea what I was doing.” that they are not affected by what they do,” she says, they were
Things continued to get worse as David moved home and not meant to let things get to them. Stories that involved
went freelance, just as his relationship started to break down. harm or violence to children and animals, shootings and
“I think the nature of starting to freelance – you’re trying to serious car collisions were the stories that stuck with the
make an impression, trying to ingratiate yourself – so I was reporters she interviewed. “One reporter said she didn’t let her
doing lots of shifts, lots of night shifts,” he says. There was no husband drive the car any more after a really bad car accident
guidance or support around how to work night shifts and she covered,” she says.
look after your health, he adds. Some journalists cope through exercise, cathartic activities
The relationship breakdown led him to focus more and – writing or crying to ‘get it out’, or talking with colleagues, a
more on work, leading to yet more night shifts and more partner or therapist. Many start off talking to their spouse or
strain. “It just got to a tipping point where there was a night close personal friend but quickly stop. Seely explains: “They
where I was considering killing myself and, luckily, rather didn’t like to burden their spouses or their significant others
than doing it, I rang up a friend.” with the things they had seen and done, and what they were
He was prescribed antidepressants and went into therapy feeling.”
for three and half years. He feels things since have gone “very She adds that several journalists she interviewed took
much upwards”. comfort from the fact their role was important in serving the
The reporting of mental health has improved, although
there are still frequent examples around the world of
How the BBC helps
distressing and damaging stories. In the newsroom, a which includes a confidential
prevailing macho culture sits alongside a growing recognition 24hr helpline, and access to a
worker wellbeing
of the long-term effects of trauma among war remote GP. This is also open
correspondents. to freelances. Employees are
However, little has been done about the effects of the job also able to access trauma
on domestic reporters covering traumatic crimes, major THE BBC uses a counselling health and wellbeing of all support sessions through
events with significant injury or loss of life, horrific car programme based on the those who work for us”. occupational health.
collisions or just dealing with the stresses of an increasingly Ministry of Defence’s Trim Its support includes online Most recently, the
casualised and high-pressure sector. Since 2020, journalists programme to support mental health and resilience corporation has established
have been under even greater pressure, reporting on a global journalists who are feeling sessions, access to more than an online platform that
pandemic while job security vanished. emotionally affected by 1,000 staff mental health provides a confidential
At least eight UK journalists have died from suicide since stories they are working on. first aiders, wellbeing service to help individuals
2015, four of those in 2019. That number is almost certainly In a statement, the BBC courses for staff and track and understand their
an underestimate for a number of reasons. There is no clear says it places “the utmost managers, an employee wellbeing and mental health
boundary of who a journalist is – if we include the production importance on the mental assistance programme, specialists.
staff who sift through images and video, the comment
14 | theJournalistmental health
“
public. However, others misused drugs and alcohol, or used aid workers who work in areas affected by conflict and
‘gallows humour’ to avoid their feelings – several expressed humanitarian catastrophes. All their therapists are former
fears of being reassigned or losing their job if they talked journalists or aid workers and have field experience.
about it with their managers. Some editors were supportive, She sees “a lot of people with pre-existing stuff going on
for example ensuring that one day a week they were given I think people really, which is then massively exacerbated by loneliness,
‘happy stories’ or not assigned to crime stories. stress and trauma”. Mind Field puts together a block of
“Anna Blundy, who runs Mind Field, warns of the risks of leave it until therapy sessions that employers can buy and staff can use
“Going into a profession with short deadlines, where you’re
only as good as your last story, especially if you’re going to be they aren’t anonymously. Mortimer believes it is “incredibly important”
to provide a high level of confidentiality as many employees
a foreign or war correspondent in the field.” Her organisation
specialises in providing therapy by video for journalists and
sleeping or are are isolated and do not have a good relationship with their
employer, which might discourage them from being open
using all the about a mental health problem. She says people she sees tend
to be in a poor state by the time they get to her. “I think
classic defences people leave it until they aren’t sleeping or are using all the
classic defences of drinking, drugs and promiscuity.”
of drinking, Employers could do more in terms of making people aware of
drugs, and those warning signs and encouraging them to seek help early,
she feels.
promiscuity Going through user-generated content, including images
”
from war zones, also has an impact on journalists.
“Increasingly it’s young, inexperienced journalists who are
recently out of their university programmes who are being
asked to look at this content,” says Duncan. “Sometimes, I
don’t think they have the emotional experience, the
emotional literacy to deal with what they are seeing.”
In May 2020, Facebook agreed to pay $52 million to current
and former content moderators who had developed PTSD.
This followed the case of Selena Scola, who sued Facebook
after developing the condition in the course of moderating
content for the website including videos of rape, murder and
suicide. The tech giant also committed to providing weekly
mental health support for staff in these roles.
“When I got home in the evening, I had been seeing images
where you’d blur things out – I’d see those without blurring.”
Sarah worked on user-generated content (UGC) desks at
several media organisations. “I was there for the Belgium
[terrorist] attacks – it was just really intense, you just get on
with the job, you do it. You’re on adrenaline – everyone is
professional.” The stress and trauma of the job caught up
with her after her shift ended. She sank onto to her kitchen
floor and started crying. She had had no time to process what
she had seen. Sarah says this is common and people work on
the UGC desk until they get sick. “You can sometimes say ‘this
is not nice’ to the person who’s sat next to you, but you’re just
doing the job and it hits you,” she says.
Ann Luce, an academic at Bournemouth University, believes
newsrooms should, as a minimum, learn from other frontline
professions and establish a debrief system whereby staff can
share what has happened, particularly if there has been a
traumatic event. “It’s very possible that a journalist who
graduates from my programme could walk into a newsroom
tomorrow and their first story could be a murder, could be a
suicide, and how are they going to deal with that?,” she asks.
At the moment, the answer is still too much of an unknown.
Looking back, on the Raul moat case and his other
experiences David feels fortunate that the team he was in at
the time of his crisis were “superb”. He feels there was a lot of
support and understanding. His employer kept giving him
day rather than night shifts, put no pressure on him to return
to night shifts and his boss offered personal support. “If I said
I needed anything, then it was able to happen,” he says.
theJournalist | 15Jonathan Sale on the rise of the weather forecasters
WEATHERING
A STORM
1
921 was a good year for weather. for the relevant seven days in the previous year Daily ‘state of the weather’ reports were first
Not only was there as usual a lot which enabled readers to produce their own DIY published in 1848 in the Daily News, the paper
of it about, but also there were at forecast. Or not. started by Charles Dickens from which he walked
least two radio stations, attached Today, ‘nowcasting’ is the term used for out after a few short weeks as editor. Like
to universities, that began forecasts for a period as short as two hours Houghton’s Collection, the paper’s bulletins
alerting listeners to what the heavens had in ahead; what Houghton provided could be consisted of historical weather summaries but at
store. Both had begun a few years earlier with termed ‘then casting’. least they weren’t a year but just a day old; thanks
weather forecasts only in Morse code, but Still, he did bring an element of reality to to the telegraph, meteorological observations were
realised that ‘a heavy fall of dot dash dot will be ‘prognostications’, which was not the case with whisked over the wires to London and printed in
followed by periods of dash dot dash’ was not some of the competitive publications whose the next day’s paper. Readers of Tuesday’s edition
exactly reader-friendly. Now, the wireless resources included astrology, guesswork and could then be informed about what the weather
warnings came via human voices. pure fluke. Others did their divinations courtesy had been like on the Monday. Alternatively, they
One of those stations, The AM band service of the behaviour of animals, for example a frog could have looked out of the window at the time.
WEW in St Louis, has survived The university was in a jar: possibly it croaked once for a storm, For mid 19th century mariners, unexpected
linked to the heavens in another way, as its twice for sunny spells. (I’m guessing but so was storms were often a death sentence and many of
president was the Reverend William Robison, the frog.) the 7,201 lives lost at sea in British waters during
who read out the first 500-word weather
bulletin.
Come rain or shine:
Later, Rueppel broadened the station’s appeal
with programmes ranging from The Foundation at the Met Office College.
As for the showery
Lloyd’s long stint
of Catholic Faith to the less spiritual How Sugar
is Made. Now privately owned, WEW still has a conditions, Lloyd wrote
heavenly angle; it provides Christian radio about her stormy
to the local Bosnians, which you could call a relationship with Lembit
niche market. BRITAIN’S first TV trained as a working title of Öpik, the Liberal
More than two centuries earlier, a weekly weathermen – and they meteorologist and was a Sunshine and Showers. Democrat MP who was
newspaper with the un-snappy title of were always men – were fan of fashion. “There’s There is no doubt that her fiance until he ran
A Collection for the Improvement of Husbandry never seen but merely nothing worse than the woman who twice off with 50 per cent of
& Trade had already demonstrated the British heard reading the seeing people wrongly won the award for best Romanian pop duo The
obsession with the elements. forecasts. dressed for the weather: TV weather presenter Cheeky Girls. He later
“Twould be of great use to have a true history When finally in shivering in Ascot in a enjoyed many sunny lost his seat and also the
of the weather from which it is likeliest to draw vision, they were not little dress,” she says. periods. Not least in her Cheeky Girl. Lloyd
prognostications,” wrote apothecary John necessarily chosen for Before it was education in which she presented the ITV
Houghton in the issue of May 14, 1692. ’Twould their looks or dress published as A Funny achieved 11 O-levels, Weather for 24 years,
indeed be very handy and the paper produced a sense. Today, their suits Kind of Love, her four A-levels, Eistedfodd from 1990 until 2014.
chart for the next seven days. This listed only air and dresses are taken as autobiography had the crown at 16 and first As well as being
pressure and wind readings but was absolutely part of the whole class degree at fluent in weather, she
accurate. How, you may ask, was this possible in presentation. Swansea University, also speaks Welsh
an age without weather satellites or the Siân Lloyd, our followed by fluently, having studied
legendary presenter Michael Fish? Easy. The longest-serving female postgraduate studies it at school and at
crucial term here is ‘history’. The May week in weather forecaster, at Oxford and a spell university.
question was in 1691. Houghton gave the figures
ALLSTAR PICTURE LIBRARY LTD / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
16 | theJournalistYou can also read
