The NUJ’s Devon and Cornwall branch has been revived amid concerns about the savage cuts spreading across our industry.
Members in the south west are also angry about redundancies at Northcliffe subsidiary Cornwall and Devon Media, publishers of weekly titles and magazines across the two counties.
Almost 20 people attended a revival meeting of the branch earlier this month and they were joined by regional rep and NUJ Left activist Tim Lezard and NUJ national official David Ayrton.
Stuart Fraser, whose campaigning against redundancies at CDM was followed by notice of his own redundancy, was elected chair of the revived branch. Michelle Nicholson was elected secretary and Anna Whitney treasurer.
Stuart’s campaign has included a direct protest to Northcliffe chairman Lord Rothermere in a letter copied to colleagues and Cornish MPs.
As the cuts continue to damage the quality of journalism our members are able to provide to their communities, it is essential that NUJ members work together in this way.
NUJ Left encourages other activists in areas without a functioning branch to call a meeting and revive activity, and we will offer any support that is necessary.
For more about the new branch and campaigns in the area, contact Stuart on stuartfraser207@btinternet.com or 01579 362667.
Posted by NUJ Left
Tags: branch, cuts, Devon and Cornwall, job cuts, National Union of Journalists
This entry was posted on Thursday, April 9th, 2009 at 2:55pm and is filed under job cuts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Stuart and his fellow branch officers should be congratulated for their work in reviving the branch.
It shows that journalists aren’t prepared to sit back and watch their newspapers get thinner and thinner while their fat cat bosses get fatter and fatter.
The next step is to cross the Tamar into Devon, where we hope journalists in Plymouth and beyond will join us and maybe even form their own branch.