Briefs
NUJ Deputy General Secretary John Fray will retire on May 31 after 19 years with the union. An election will be held for his successor.
Ballots for the union’s National Executive Council for 2008-09 saw the following elected: PR and Information: Anita Halpin; London: Tom Davies, Nick Serpell, Phil Sutcliffe and Pierre Vicary; Midlands of England: Barbara Goulden and Lucy Lynch (jobshare); North West England: Chris Frost.
Journalists and supporters in Media Workers Against the War demonstrated outside the Express group head office in London in February in protest at its reporting of migrants and Muslim people.
Around 40 protesters waved banners saying “stop media attacks on Muslims” while chanting slogans such as “Daily Express, Daily abuse”.
MWAW sent a letter to Northern and Shell proprietor Richard Desmond and Daily Express editor Peter Hill citing examples of inflammatory headlines. The letter said the headlines “do nothing to inform Express readers — on the contrary they encourage racist stereotyping and contempt.”
Colleagues will be walking the 26 miles across the Isle of Wight on May 18 to raise funds for a hospice that cared for a journalist, Jeremy Price, who died last year. Details from www.justgiving.com/teamjeremy or www.iwhospice.org
WORLD PRESS
FREEDOM DAY 2008
NEW MEDIA are KILLING JOURNALISM
Debate and panel discussion
Friday May 2, 10 am–12 noon
at the Frontline Club, Norfolk Place, London W2
Speakers include
ANDREW KEEN author of Cult of the Amateur
SIMON KELNER editor, the Independent
NICK DAVIES author of Flat Earth News
Admission free but registration required. Registration opens on April 1 at
The NUJ is part of the Press Freedom Network which is organising the 2008 event with the UK National Commission for UNESCO and the Frontline Club