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(9)
Whilst pre-election considerations and immediate campaigning by Napo and others in the
sector contributed to these plans being put on hold for now, the GFTU and affiliates must be vigilant
and ready if they re-emerge post an election.
Resolution 10
Surveillance of Journalists
(1)
This conference condemns police surveillance of journalists, trade unionists and activists,
noting the growing evidence of such unacceptable activity that appears to have reached
unprecedented levels.
(2)
Conference notes the revelations that the Metropolitan Police used the Regulation of
Investigatory Powers legislation (RIPA) to secretly access a journalist’s phone records, internal emails
and other sensitive data as a means of exposing sources and whistleblowers, without judicial
oversight. Further investigations found that many other police forces have also exploited RIPA to spy
on journalists and identify their sources – breaching a key tenet of journalistic freedom and the
NUJ’s Code of Conduct, the responsibility to protect one’s sources.
(3)
Such methods have also been used against trade unionists and activists as a tool to
criminalise dissent and prevent scrutiny of the powerful.
(4)
It is in that context that increasing numbers of journalists and activists have been secretly
placed on a police database of so-called “domestic extremists”. Six NUJ members are currently
involved in collective legal action to challenge their inclusion on the database, which details intimate
details about their lives, including their work, medical history and even their sexuality.
(5)
This conference condemns the lack of action on the part of government to tackle these
outrages, and calls on the GFTU to campaign against such outrageous use of surveillance, to call for
the restrictions of RIPA and similar pieces of legislation; and as part of that campaign to encourage
activists in the movement to carry out subject access requests under the Data Protection Act to
expose the extent of state surveillance and support union’s taking legal challenges.
Resolution 11
Future of Local Newspapers
(1)
This conference notes the ongoing crisis in the regional newspaper industry that has seen
over 140 newspapers close since 2011.
(2)
In that time further waves of redundancies and budget cuts have hit journalists working in
local and regional newspapers, with photographers being particularly badly hit in recent months as
companies increasingly turn to free so-called “user generated” images and content to fill their pages.
Companies have also created “regional subbing hubs”, in the process transferring work from local
communities these newspapers are supposed to serve and reflect, losing jobs and longstanding local
knowledge and expertise.
(3)
Conference notes that a quarter of local government areas are not covered by a local
newspaper and 35 per cent of local government areas are covered by only a single news outlet. In 55
per cent of local government areas the same four companies have majority ownership of the local
market.