Trade union conference backs NUJ motion
The Northern Ireland conference of the Irish Congress of Trades Unions has unanimously passed an NUJ motion condemning the intimidation of journalists.
Anton McCabe, NUJ NEC member proposed the motion seconded by Alice Lemon from Equity and said no worker should be intimidated for doing their job.
McCabe said:
“This is not about journalists being special, this is because there is an organised campaign against journalists that is about depriving you of the right to know.
“It is part of the rise of the far right. During the summer, two of our members were attacked while covering the far right. Amanda Ferguson was attacked in August, on the day the far right rampaged through South Belfast. Kevin Scott was attacked in the Woodvale when covering attacks on immigrants' homes.
“In the South, our members are also suffering and there is a particularly nasty concentration on women journalists.
“There are not just physical attacks, there is trolling that is particularly targeted at women journalists and it has a serious effect on mental health.
“Sally Rees from the NASUWT has rightly called out social media companies for producing an atmosphere of toxicity and there is the particular role of X (formerly Twitter). Elon Musk is the world's richest man and is making riches from running a sewer of foul abuse. That carries particularly foul abuse of our members, particularly misogynistic abuse of women journalists.
“Threats here are part of an international trend, with the rise of the far right - they are creating a climate where journalists are being fingered.
“We have Donald Trumps's calling us 'fake news' and making so-called jokes about shooting journalists.
“Journalism is important for society, it exposes the far right and counters racist lies with facts. Skilled and well-resourced journalism is needed to do that - it is a public service.
“In Northern Ireland, threats to journalists have been an unfortunate part of life for a long time. We remember Martin O'Hagan murdered 23 years ago, we remember Lyra McKee, shot dead less than a mile from here. Unfortunately, threats to journalists have worsened in Northern Ireland's peace. The NUJ will do our best to stand up for our members. We know the trade union movement has our back.”
© Kevin Cooper