Lovely to see the cut and thrust of comment and debate following
the publication online of my chapter in the latest journalism book, What Do We Mean By Local? The Rise,
Fall – and Possible Rise Again – of Local Journalism.
As a newspaper editor it’s always tempting to have the last
word with those pesky readers, so why change the habits of a lifetime? Here
goes with some responses to correspondents on holdthefrontpage and PressGazette
Kendo Nagasaki (where are you now, Peter Thornley..?): If this man had an understanding or empathy
he would realise that people’s circumstances change. They may start their
career as single but, like most of us, after a few years, begin to think about
settling down. They realise that a reporter’s salary is not enough to buy a house
and raise a family. That’s why they leave for better paid jobs. It is laughable
that Geere thinks that an editor’s salary of £30k is somehow good. You can earn
more churning out press releases at a local council.
I’m proud of the hundreds of people I have helped on their
way in journalism from students, trainees and senior journalists. I’ve ‘understanding
and empathy’ by the bucketload and one of the main thrusts of my piece – mainly
ignored by the masses – is that I want to help upgrade the status of journalism to everyone’s
benefit.
LOL: “Journalists who
leave either during their training or shortly after qualifying can feel an
embarrassment that they have abused their employer by accepting the training
(at a cost of an average of £1,000 per head) and then jumping ship” Would be
very interested to see what this ‘average’ cost was based on and what went into
it.
There are the actual costs of registration with the NCTJ, fees
for exams, the cost of refresher courses and the cost of time put in by senior
staff helping trainees. I actually think £1,000 may be a little on the
conservative side.
And unionman writes: Surely
a lot of contracts have clauses which mean if a trainee “jumps ship” shortly
after qualifying as a senior they are liable to pay some of the training costs
back – mine did!
Yes, those clauses were in place, but I never actually
invoked them. It seemed churlish or even callous.
I’m grateful to Chris Morley from the NUJ having the good
grace to put his name to his comments, unlike the other lily-livered lurkers: Geere participated in Northcliffe’s halving
of its staff from 2009 [not true, maybe one third, but not half] which vastly increased workloads, stress
and working hours for journalists. It meant they were forced to cut corners and
hindered their ability to carry out their professional duties. The jobs
massacre particularly targeted those in slightly better paid editorial jobs and
flattened the newsroom hierarchy, considerably reducing prospects for career
progression for those who remained [don’t follow the logic. If better paid
people left why were there reduced career prospects?]. I am surprised to hear him say editors on small weeklies get £30k
plus – that’s news to me, particularly for those installed in the job in recent
years [I know the numbers, and helped ensure editors salaries were realistic
at at least £30k]. Pay was frozen for a
number of years and the final salary pension scrapped.
It is risable that
Geere attacks trainees who leave when decent terms and conditions – as the
basis for a lifetime’s career – have been laid waste by their bosses, offering
them only joyless slog for pay rates bearing no relation to the
responsibilities and effort put in. Instead of blaming everyone else, those who
have drove the media ship on to the rocks should take some responsibility for
their failure and get out of the way while those who believe that journalism
requires proper resources get on with the job of rebuilding a great industry.
Very eloquently put, Chris, despite the factual errors
highlighted above. But you’re preaching
to the converted. I have battled for improved pay and conditions for journalists
for many years and will continue to do so.
Don Estelle, Greenhall Whitley Land, writes: Al continues the tradition of newspaper
managers turning their face to the plight of their more junior staff. His
superficial ‘report’ glosses over the practice of stuffing newsrooms with
trainees while forcing senior journalists out to reduce costs.
As Kendo points out, people’s circumstances change, that’s why many have to leave. Al mentions interviews and how salaries are clearly explained. I wonder how clearly the future of his newspapers was explained to candidates? I can’t help thinking some of his trainees began drifting off once the reality started sinking in. As for being embarassed (sic) about the cost of their training, I feel, like me, most will not give it a second thought.
As Kendo points out, people’s circumstances change, that’s why many have to leave. Al mentions interviews and how salaries are clearly explained. I wonder how clearly the future of his newspapers was explained to candidates? I can’t help thinking some of his trainees began drifting off once the reality started sinking in. As for being embarassed (sic) about the cost of their training, I feel, like me, most will not give it a second thought.
Wish I knew what the ‘future of newspapers’ was - I wouldn’t
be sitting here if I did! Any candidate worth recruiting should be fully aware
of the issues facing newspapers and make a career decision based on that
information.
Now freelance, Anywhere but local papers: I was a local hack at one of the Kent
papers taken on by Northcliffe and it was a horrorshow of a proprietorship. ….For
Alan Geere to even have a platform to push his dubious ‘survey’ and to
criticise reporters for wanting job security, decent pay and pensions literally
takes the biscuit. Or not, if you worked for Northcliffe, where even biscuits
were rationed.
I hope most readers will agree that this is not a ‘dubious
survey’ but a serious attempt to tackle an underlying issue which threatens the
health of journalism. And, as for those biscuits, we provided our own and my
Aldi luxury range always went down well.
Capt. Starlight: If any youngster asked me for advice on
possibly going into journalism, I’d warn them strongly that they may end up
disillusioned and stretched after a year or two. Bit like saying they’d like to
be an actor or model. Sad but true?
Absolutely, Cap’n, I don’t disagree. But the point I am
making is that journalism must up its game and recruit better people who can
cope with the pressure.
JW, NUJ Life Member, says: “Work experience should set out in a formal contract, with a minimum
period compulsory before a job offer is made.” Another way of staffing an
office on the cheap?
You’ve gotta be joking! Workies can be time-consuming, unreliable
and unproductive. A few can provide a helpful hand but as for staffing on the
cheap it’s a non-starter. The work experience experience is there for the benefit
of the (usually) young person not the employer.
Anon: How the
hell does one remain a 'trainee journalist' for six years???? What's going on
there?
Don’t even go there (what’s the teeline outline for that?)
Anon: It’s nice
to see the Press Gazette is letting comments through on this story. Over on
holdthefrontpage, they're refusing to let through any comments that say
anything unfavourable about Alan Geere. I'm sure the fact they're serialising his
research has nothing to do with it...
News to me…
- What Do We Mean By Local? The Rise, Fall – and Possible Rise Again – of Local Journalism. Edited by John Mair, Richard Lance Keeble with Neil Fowler. Published by Abramis Bury St Edmunds September 1 2013. isbn 978-1-84549-593-0. Price £19.95
