The Journalist online: what you think
THE LAST issue of the Journalist was not printed but offered only online, with the choice of a pdf or web pages. Members were asked to comment, and 240 had done so by the end of April.
Of those who expressed a clear preference, 76 welcomed the initiative and said they think the magazine should go online, and 113 wanted to stick to print. This page has some typical responses.
The magazine will still be printed and a Journalist website is being developed, but its nature and style are up for debate. Members are asked to email journalist@nuj.org.uk with their views.
MAKING the Journalist magazine into a digital presence makes much more sense. It’s better for the environment, better for the union’s budget and most of all better for the readers.
The beauty of a web-based product is that it can be updated almost instantly, which can make it a more reactive publication. Some of the news in the Journalist magazine can be very old and the web would enable the editorial team to update on a far more regular basis.
Also, you can encourage greater participation, greater experience for younger journalists and a greater plurality of views.
Unions are regularly being accused of being stuck in the 20th century, let’s show everyone how dynamic and forward-thinking the NUJ can be.
Mike Lowe
Newcastle Under Lyme, Staffs
I LOVE reading the Journalist when it comes through my door. Much of my day is spent in front of a computer screen and the last thing I want to do when I get home is spend the evening glued to one as I plough through an online magazine. It is hell for my eyes, as well as being harder to absorb.
Alys Cummings
London E8
I THINK the PDF is a winner BUT the money saved in postage and printing should be ploughed into creating a searchable archive and also into making Journalist the best written and best researched magazine for journalists on the planet!
Nick Morgan
Brighton
THIS IS a great idea. I get so much post through the door that most of it stays in its envelopes or polywrap from one week to the next. Emails with web links to interesting stories are much better as I look at my email all the time anyway to find leads. Electronic access also gives the option to link to other articles and areas of the NUJ site, to bookmark older articles and to build up a repository of information (you could even use the content as the starting point for a wiki of journalism tips, best practices, explanation of copyright law etc). I know that some people really like the print magazine though so perhaps you could give members the choice of how they want to receive it.
Siân Harris
Bristol
ARRGGGH not this too, please bring back the printed version. I hate reading off a computer screen and end up printing everything off anyway which is time consuming and wasteful.
In addition it assumes that every reader has an up to date computer equipped with the latest software, this is not necessarily true!! Keep the printed copy. Please!!
Michelle Allwood
London SW17
It’s awful! I’m no Luddite but chances of me being bothered to click each individual link of a pdf is slim. In contrast if I have a print copy at home I’ll read 70-80% of it. I can see the potential for inclusion of multimedia obviously but as I spend too much time in front of a PC already I enjoy print media more than ever.
Fergal MacErlean
Stirling
PEOPLE use web and print in different ways, so the NUJ needs to decide what it wants from each media. News and instant help and resources can best be provided by the website, analysis better in print, because people will retain a print copy to read at leisure, whereas they only stay on line for a limited time and usually in pursuit of particular things.
I suspect most people won’t see the online edition because they won’t know it exists. I think the NUJ gives up sending out the one thing that is a direct communication to all members at their home address at its peril.
Martin Cloake
London SE26
I LIKE to have reading matter that’s portable. I can take The Journalist to work and read it in my lunch hour (and leave it lying around as a recruiting tool!). Or read it on public transport.
Like most members, I spend the majority of my working life on a computer. I try to get away from the computer when I finish working. I like to cut out and keep Chief Sub — I keep in a folder at work (another recruiting tool!).
Penny Kiley
Didcot, Oxon
IT’S A thumbs up from this member. I appreciate the strength of the printed publication and the risk in replacing it. But I’m all for a digital (and greener) version if it means there will be more, and faster moving, content as well as more opportunity to contribute. I’m always looking for more advice — for me, the Chief Sub column is often the highlight of the mag — and I’d like to see more criticism and analysis of major news topics, stories and media in general.
Kelly Smith
Warwick
I love the online journalist magazine. Is there any way I can get the paper version that’s sent to me stopped now please? I don’t like the waste of paper, ink and resources.
Tim Norman
Superb idea, well executed, enjoyed reading it online.
Katy O’Dowd
By all means, let’s please save those trees! And this way we can print out just the pages we need.
Michael Balter
The printed Journalist is a friend dropping through the letterbox each month. I certainly won’t be scrolling around a screen to read it if it goes exclusively online. The idea smacks of desperate cost cutting.
Glyn Roberts
To be honest I can’t be arsed with reading anything more than mere news items online. Certainly not a whole mag. Can’t beat leafing through The Journalist on the train.
Keith Bingham
What a nightmare! I really didn’t have the energy to read the magazine in the same way as usual. For goodness sake, we spend enough of our lives looking at PC screens.
Neil Merrick
I spend all day staring at a screen for work. I’d like to relax and read it with a printed copy that’s come through the letterbox and a tea. Online I skip through stuff I would otherwise pay attention to.
Paul Welsh
I won’t be reading the online version. The magazine is the only contact I have with the NUJ year to year and I’m unhappy that even that link is being weakened.