TUC Congress 2024
NUJ motions on restoring trust in the media and a campaign to improve pay and conditions for freelances were passed unanimously by delegates.
Restoring trust in the media
Séamus Dooley, NUJ assistant general secretary, said the existential crisis in the news industry was leading to an existential crisis in democracy. Public interest journalism he said was critical during the pandemic Covid as a bulwark against the misinformation and conspiracy theories putting people’s health, and lives, at risk. But the dominance of social platforms and their use for the promotion of the malign views of the likes of Elon Musk is drowning out ethical and quality journalism.
“Public interest journalism is important because the existential crisis in media, leads to an existential crisis in democracy," he said. “The challenge today for politicians is to deliver a two-word response to the likes of Elon Musk and the second word is ‘off,’ because, quite frankly, that cannot be the future of our society.”
Séamus referred to a study by Reuters Institute which showed that the proportion of those in the UK who trust most news most of the time is 35 per cent, down from 51 per cent in 2015. In Ireland the figure remained at 46 per cent over the same period. He said:
“That collapse in trust was not caused by an act of nature and is not inevitable but stems from the failure of news organisations to invest in quality news and has been exacerbated by tech companies hoovering up advertising revenue and pivoting away from news on their platforms.
“Politicians have long lived by the dictum, ‘Never argue by a man who buys ink by the barrel’. In this digital era politicians must show courage in tacking the likes of Elon Musk, challenging their power – and their abuse of that power.
“The primacy of market share, the tyranny of clickbait and the failure to invest in editorial resources has had a profound impact on the print, broadcasting and digital sectors.”
He said the spectre of AI has added a new dimension to the existential crisis at the heart of the media industry.
“The rapidly advancing technologies which seek to displace human thought and actions with machines may initially have been perceived as having a sort of sci-fi novelty quality but as the seismic changes enabled by artificial intelligence become apparent, we are waking up to the reality that this latest wave of new technology poses an existential threat beyond our wildest imaginings,” he said.
The motion was seconded by Ellie Peers, general secretary of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain. She said her scriptwriter members created stories and fictional words, but social media was creating a fictional world based on evil and misinformation. And that is why these tech companies must be regulated and be forced to take down the lies and hate they allow to flourish. If GDPR can be regulated, then so can AI she said.
Ellie said her members, as are journalists, are being used by these tech companies to train AI machines, breaching writers’ rights and copyright on an industrial scale.
The threat of AI was a feature of a number of motions at Congress. A delegate from Accord said 54 per of banking jobs and 46 per cent in insurance are predicted to go because of AI. A delegate from Unite speaking to Artificial Intelligence: regulation, equality, skills, training, and the arts spoke about the discrimination, sexism, racism and homophobia entrenched in the content being recreated by AI algorithms. “New technology, but the same old discrimination,” she said. “AI is our future, so colleagues let us prepare.”
The NUJ’s motion drew on the NUJ’s News Recovery Plan which sets out practical proposals to reset the media industry. It called on the Congress TUC’s general council to support plan for:
i. a windfall tax of six per cent on the tech giants to provide sustainable future funding
ii. Jobs for Journalists tax credits and interest free loans to bolster frontline newsgathering roles
iii. reforming media ownership rules with a strengthened public interest test
iv. the establishment of a journalism foundation to champion public interest news and foster a diverse media
v. investment in measures to ensure journalists can work safely
vi. legislation to protect the rights of creators and regulate AI
vii. legislation to outlaw SLAPPs and other forms of ‘lawfare’ aimed at thwarting journalistic reporting
viii. safeguarding journalists against surveillance.
Fair pay for freelances
Séamus Dooley proposed the NUJ’s motion and thanked sister unions Prospect and Artists Union England for their amendments which included a campaign for better enforcement of automatic pension enrolment regulations in industries with large numbers of freelancers
In his speech to Congress, Séamus evoked James Larkin, the Liverpool-born Irish trade union leader who, he said, knew all about the exploitation of casual and freelance workers. Best known for known for his role in organising the 1913 strike that led to the Dublin lock-out, he also organised the dock workers.
Séamus said:
“Larkin knew that the union movement can only be effective if we stand united. How can that unity of purpose be achieved where there is a two-tier system and where freelance workers are treated as children of a lesser God? Freelance workers cannot forever be pushed to the back of the queue or locked out of the processes of trade union representation.”
The motion called for legislative change, and Séamus said the New Deal for working people must include a deal for freelance workers – not just staff.
“Freelances deserve fair pay and fair play, prompt payment and an end to exploitative contractual terms and conditions. Above all freelance workers deserve respect,” he said.
Prospect, seconding the motion, said freelances were missing out on pension pay as even in cases where employers were supposed to provide contributions, many ignored the legal requirement.
Lorraine Monk, speaking for the Artists Union England, said many workers, most of them freelance in the arts, were forced to have what are known as portfolio careers. “I call them precarious careers and rip off jobs,” she said. “Art workers need decent wages and conditions.” In a motion about the cuts to arts funding, Congress was told that creative workers were being forced to work for below minimum wage rates because Arts Council grants were being cut or scrapped for many arts organisations.
The motion called on Congress to instruct the general Council to:
i. support unions in their campaigning efforts to achieve
ii. ensure guidance for reps includes toolkits with practical guidance reflecting any legislative changes by the new government.
iii. campaign for better enforcement of automatic enrolment regulations in industries with large numbers of freelancers
iv. lobby to restrict the option to postpone assessment for automatic enrolment.
Freelance Charter: the NUJ's 10-point charter for freelances rights and benefits.