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National Union of Journalists | |
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| Founded | 1907; 118 years ago (1907) |
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| Headquarters | Headland House, 72 Acton Street, London, WC1X 8DP |
| Location | |
| Members |  23,066 (2024)[1] |
General Secretary | Laura Davison |
President | Natasha Hirst |
| Affiliations | |
| Website | nuj.org.uk |
TheNational Union of Journalists (NUJ) is atrade union supporting journalists in theUnited Kingdom and Ireland. The NUJ was founded in 1907[2] and has 20,693 members. It is a member of theInternational Federation of Journalists (IFJ),Trades Union Congress (TUC) affiliated, and a former member of theGeneral Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU).
There is a range of National Councils beneath the NEC, covering different sections and areas of activity. There is an Industrial Council for each of the NUJ's "industrial" sectors:
The Photographers' Council, while not an industrial council, functions in the same way to campaign on issues relevant to the union's photographer, photojournalist and videographer members.
There are also National Executive Councils, covering all sectors, for Ireland and Scotland. The Irish Executive Council, which has a higher degree of autonomy, coversNorthern Ireland as well as the Republic.[3] Since 2016, in response to Brexit, the Union's Continental European Council further expanded the NUJ's remit to include NUJ members working in Continental Europe, in particular for NUJ branches in Paris, Brussels and the Netherlands, to campaign on issues of common interest.
The union's structure is democratic, and its supreme decision-making body is its Delegate Meeting, a gathering of elected delegates from all branches across the UK, Ireland and Europe. Between Delegate Meetings, decisions lie with the NUJ's National Executive Council, a committee of 27 people, elected annually by members. The NEC is chaired by a President, elected, along with a Vice-President and Treasurer, at the Delegate Meeting.
The General Secretary (GS) is elected every five years by a national ballot of all members and is held to account and responsible to the National Executive Council (NEC). The current GS isMichelle Stanistreet. The General Secretary is responsible for the day-to-day running of the union and directing its staff. However, important decisions such as authorising industrial action must be taken by the NEC.
Presidents of the NUJ:[5]
The NUJ publishes a magazine calledThe Journalist.[6]
In November 2024, several BBC journalists quit the NUJ and a dozen more journalists in the UK were in the process of handing in their NUJ membership cards. This came after they were urged by the NUJ to wear the colours of thePalestinian flag (red, green and black) or akeffiyeh to mark a 'Day of Action for Palestine'.[7] Charlotte Henry, who runsThe Addition, a media and tech newsletter, announced that she was leaving the union because the industry had become a 'hostile environment for the Jews'.[8] TheBoard of Deputies of British Jews has condemned both the NUJ and theTrade Union Congress (TUC), its umbrella union organisation "for failing to support Jewish workers".[9]
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