EFJ Helsinki 28 April 2011 Where the Jobs Are EFJ: Helsinki, 28 April 2011 Gary Herman NUJ New Media Industrial Council

EFJ Helsinki 28 April 2011 The Problem Number of mainstream journalism jobs in UK has shrunk by around 30% in ten years François Nel, UCLAN, 2010 Yet new media is burgeoning, digital and community radio is exploding, the news is being reported (if not made) on Twitter and Facebook, and universities continue to turn out ever- increasing numbers of journalism graduates What exactly is going on?

EFJ Helsinki 28 April 2011 The NUJ Mapping Exercise Launched in 2009 following an earlier investigation into 'multimedia working' in our industry Attempted to find out where the new jobs are, because this is critical to our work and our survival as a union Ended up a year later knowing very little except what we did not know

EFJ Helsinki 28 April 2011 Going International: the Big Questions What is a journalist - now and in the future? How do we find them all? How do we keep up with the fast-moving changes we confront? How do we research something that is so difficult to grasp? What are we doing it for?

EFJ Helsinki 28 April 2011 Defining the Job State our purpose Represent interests of all affiliated unions Aim at issues of common concern – recruitment, bargaining, longer-term future of the industry Useful rather than purely interesting results Determine scope and granularity Global or regional? Sample or overview? Past or future?

EFJ Helsinki 28 April 2011 Perspectives Time perspective How long into the future – if at all - should the project think about, and to what extent should the futurology involve econometric and social modelling Geographical perspective Where on the planet should the project look Occupational perspective What activities should be included under the category of journalism

EFJ Helsinki 28 April 2011 Time Ten years is probably as far as one can see with any degree of reliability After two or three years, theres a lot of guesswork involved; after ten years, its pretty much all guesswork Modelling can give us useful pointers to development, but is probably no better, predictively, than intelligent analysis based on historical precedent

EFJ Helsinki 28 April 2011 Place Engage all affiliates equally Distinguish countries according to significant criteria eg. political system, inequality, number of publications/media organisations... Focus on small number of interesting or important countries Get a view from the ground

EFJ Helsinki 28 April 2011 Occupation Clear idea of the nature of journalism Industrial classifications useless Self-definition begs the question Union membership may miss key developments Operational definitions...disseminate info about what is happening Too narrow – particularly given union point-of-view Journalism is changing and with it journalists

EFJ Helsinki 28 April 2011 Conclusion Survey affiliates to find out what they want Get funding to scope research – in particular, time-scale, geographical focus & definition Use affiliates and small international team of researchers Produce a distillation of research for widespread dissemination

EFJ Helsinki 28 April 2011 And Finally... Our members are our best resource – use them But remember, the world changes... and we need to change our ideas with it Dictators can be toppled by the strength of the people united

EFJ Helsinki 28 April 2011 And Finally... Our members are our best resource – use them But remember, the world changes... and we need to change our ideas with it Dictators can be toppled by the strength of the people united An ordinary young woman can marry a prince...