NUJ Called on Bloggers to join the Journalist Union

National Union of Journalists (NUJ) that granted a blogger its membership for the first time in November moved one step further to embrace blogging as a form of journalism. Jeremy Dear (in the photo), the General Secretary of NUJ, has called on bloggers to join the union, saying that medial landscape is changing.

It was unclear in November when the organization accepted a blogger as a member if it really includes blogging within the boundaries of journalism. (See the entry entitled Are Bloggers Journalists? NUJ Said "Yes" on November 16)

The 20-year-old first NUJ member with a job title of blogger, Conrad Quilty-Harper, is working for a website owned by a media company, AOL, covering IT news.

In other words, he is a full-time professional ‘news worker’, which fulfils the basic conditions for a membership of NUJ. So, the labor union seemed to approach the issue of his membership from a technical perspective without a serious consideration into what is journalism.

"Bloggers of the world, unite" said Jeremy Dear

But, everything becomes clear by Mr. Dear’s article for The Guardian's opinion website Comment is Free on 18 December.

Dear knew that NUJ’s welcoming a blogger as a member has caused a stir. He said: “A worry about professional standards is often the reasoning behind those who have questioned whether we should have admitted a blogger into the union.”

“But this question fails to recognize the changing media landscape. Whether they're freelance or employed, in broadcast or in print, hundreds of our members are already blogging on a regular basis.

“The nature of journalism is changing and, as a union, we have to reflect the industry in which our members work. Clearly, not all people who blog are journalists, but journalists who are bloggers should be encouraged to join”, he argued.

Dear wrote that the union would have to be active in whatever medium journalists find themselves working, in order to protect its members' rights at work and maintain journalistic quality.

Dear also rejected suggestions that the union is less relevant in the era of media convergence: "There are those who say that professional journalism won't survive the 'information revolution'. We've been hearing that refrain for a century. Every new technology - radio, television, the internet - was predicted to spell the death knell for the NUJ."

Lemann "As journalism moves to the Internet, move reporters there"

His view that the media landscape is changing is not arguable. We have witnessed how the new technologies are reshaping the world of journalism.

However, it cannot be a satisfactory answer for those who are worried about professional standards in journalism. Contrary to his argument, they are worried because the changes in media landscape threaten the standards in journalism.

Furthermore, the large number of J-bloggers, professional journalists who are blogging, does not support the argument that bloggers are journalists. They may be who Nicholas Lemann had in mind when arguing in the New Yorker article Amateur Hour: “As journalism moves to the Internet, the main project ought to be moving reporters there, not stripping them away.”