Get union message, Shiv Malik urges colleagues
Shiv Malik, the freelance whose notes for a book on extreme Islam are being demanded by police, has urged journalists of his generation to realise the importance of the NUJ.
As the Journalist went to press, the High Court was considering a judicial review of the case in which the Greater Manchester police are trying to force him to hand over his notes. The case is jointly funded by the union and the Sunday Times.
Apart from the vital principle of protecting sources, he explained that the case raised another issue for journalists. Terror legislation makes it a criminal offence not to volunteer information on the funding of terrorism, so any journalist investigating terrorism runs the risk of incriminating themselves.
Shiv Malik fears for his own safety if he is forced to hand over the notes and says that if he is seen as someone who cannot keep his sources confidential, he will not be able to finish the book.
His lawyer, James Eadie QC, told the court: “There is a very, very high value to be attached to press freedom, especially where confidential sources are involved.” Because the order is so wide, it “would have a serious chilling effect”.
Shiv Malik said that the help of NUJ member Martin Bright who, with the union’s backing fought off a bid to make him reveal a source in 2000, had been invaluable.
“Not all journalists of my generation have got the message that unions like the NUJ are extremely important,” said Shiv Malik. The ideology of solidarity did not have a hold on people of his age as it had in earlier times. “Nevertheless solidarity is extremely important and I hope I can get that message out to my peers.”
Shiv Malik’s friends are at