“We will not be used by the BNP to spread their propaganda,” says Eileen Short, a former Tower Hamlets council PR officer who helped organise a campaign to expose and isolate the BNP’s first elected councillor Derek Beackon.

As part of that campaign, Eileen compiled a list of 10 questions every journalist should ask themselves before reporting on the BNP or other racist and fascist parties.

“Something as simple as an NUJ style guide on noticeboards would make a huge difference,” she said.

Eileen was one of more than 50 NUJ activists at the union’s summit on Thursday 18 June about how we can support members seeking to uphold the conscience clause and the NUJ guidelines on race reporting in the face of the election of two BNP Euro MPs, and a string of local councillors in England.

The meeting agreed a five-point action plan to confront BNP racists:

• The creation of a ‘one stop shop’ information website set up by the NUJ in conjunction with sister unions
• A strong position statement of NUJ policy on racism in the media and the BNP
• Building for the Manchester day school on reporting the BNP on 27 July
• Publicising the union’s ethics hotline for advice on race reporting
• Updating an distributing the NUJ guidelines on race reporting.

Building up the confidence of members in the workplace, through information, advice and solidarity networks between chapels was the focus of much of the debate.

A member from the NUJ’s black members’ council told the meeting that “a strong, clear statement of where we stand will encourage people out there to take a stance themselves”.

One long-standing activist at The Guardian newspaper said: “It’s better to confront them through strong reporting, rather than deny them a platform and deny they exist.”

BNP thugs have also frequently tried to exclude certain journalists from press conferences – either out of racism or because the reporters have written pieces exposing BNP lies or the criminal backgrounds of their fascist officials and leaders.

A BBC worker called on union members to organise solidarity action against the exclusion of anyone from a BNP press conference , saying: “All in, or none in.”

“Don’t allow the BNP to come across as victims,” says Tim Lezard from the union’s National Executive. For many years, several campaigning journalists have been singled out on the hateful and notorious Redwatch website, which has repeatedly issued threats against anti-nazi activists.

“The way to go is to give people the confidence to use the union’s conscience clause,” he added.

The meeting also heard from Weyman Bennett, national secretary of Unite Against Fascism, former Labour MEP Glyn Ford and black members’ council co-chair Rotimi Sankore.

Three people joined the NUJ as a result of the meeting and 11 more activists signed up for the NUJ Left email list.

Posted by Pete Murray

Tags: anti-fascist, anti-racist, ethics, Guardian, National Union of Journalists, NUJ, NUJ Left, PR, public relations, solidarity