Bristol NUJ

The MediaGuardian has launched its Innovation Awards (called the MEGAs in a particularly uninspired bit of marketing) aimed at anyone pushing the boundaries of creativity in the media industry, although it is not open to regional or national newspapers.

The panel of judges includes Katie Derham, Brent Hoberman, Peter Bazalgette, John Bartle and other high profile media gurus.

You can visit the website and submit your entry at mediaguardian.co.uk/awards

Our next NUJ Bristol Branch Meeting is on Wednesday 19th September 2007, starting at 7pm at The Hub, 35 King Street, Bristol BS1 4DZ, which is two doors down from the Old Vic Theatre.  The meeting will be on the 3rd floor.

This will be our first Branch meeting after the summer break.  We will be taking forward our ideas and plans for the coming year including:

This year’s Arnolfini/NUJ Benn lecture, organised by Bristol Branch.  Last year we had Tony Benn at the inaugural annual lecture in the series that bears his name. Who are we having this year?

The NUJ’s Stand Up for Journalism campaign is underway; we need to decide as a Branch how we want to take part in and contribute to the national Day of Action on 5th November. For more general information about the campaign see the NUJ website: http:// www.standupforjournalism.org.uk/

The Drogheda Agreement; there is concern within the union over the recent agreement between the NUJ and the Drogheda Independent newspaper in Ireland, with implications for future working practices including press photographers.  Issues arising from this will be discussed.

We also hope to have a short presentation by researcher Andy Williams on the effects of multi-media and convergence of media, and the way this is impacting on the quality of journalism with a drive to reduce costs rather than improve coverage and depth.

Motions to the NUJ’s Annual Delegate Meeting, April 2008 in Belfast; it’s never too early to start thinking about what we want our union to do, and how we want to do it. ADM is the place where we can propose and debate motions, and vote on how our union can support us and fight our case in times of change. There will be one more Branch meeting before the deadline for motions which is on 26th November.

And we will be hearing about what has been happening in our own Branch, the Chapels, and Freelance issues.

So please come along, share your thoughts and ideas and help make your union work for you!

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday 19h September. You’ll be very welcome.

There are still spaces left on professional training courses that are running in October - December 2007. You can view the timetable here. If you are interested in any course, click on the title to read the course outline, content and who should attend. All courses take place at the NUJ head office, Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8DP. To book a place on any course please contact Tracy Trickett in the training department, email training@nuj.org.uk or telephone 020 7843 3717. All bookings are treated on a first come first served basis.

Convergence in Focus is the title of the IEC forum planned for Saturday October 20th at 2.30pm in the Tullamore Court Hotel. The forum will look at media convergence from an Irish perspective and will follow the Irish Delegate Conference. It is open to all NUJ members. Speakers will include Len Mulholland MoC Guardian Newspapers Chapel, Eanna O Caoilli, FoC, ireland.com chapel, and Eamon Ward, award winning photographer, Clare People. Chair: Patrick Kinsella Dublin City University. Further information and pre-booking email info@nuj.ie

A small number of BBC staff at CBBC are currently facing the prospect of compulsory redundancy. The NUJ has one member potentially at risk although dialogue continues over this individual. Management are so far being intransigent overall despite the fact that more than enough volunteers have come forward to meet the request for job cuts. Please support the stand of union colleagues by signing the petition at www.bectu.org.uk/news/bbc/nb0329.html