Aims and Objectives

  @  Aims and Objectives 

The aims and objectives of the NJU are:

To protect and strengthen the rights and freedoms of journalists;

To respect and defend freedom of information, media freedom and the independence of journalism, particularly through  research and monitoring of violations and taking action to defend journalists and their work;

To uphold and improve professionalism and to promote high standards of journalism and journalistic education;

To improve and defend the social and working conditions of all journalists, and to encourage and support member unions in collective bargaining;

To promote co-operation between member unions, and to support trade union development, through the organisation   of continental and regional groups;

To promote and maintain editorial democracy;

To promote the social role of journalists and the profession of journalism, particularly its contribution to democracy and freedom;

To encourage the provision of professional and trade union education and training for journalists;

To co-ordinate action to ensure the safety of journalists and to incorporate safety training in collective agreements between member unions and employer organisations;

To encourage member unions to provide goodwill and assistance for members of other member unions who may be   working in their territories;

To establish and maintain close relations with relevant international, government and non-government organisations in the pursuit of these objects;

To fight for authors' rights and international reimbursement systems;

To promote mainstreaming equality in journalism and to encourage member unions to pursue this objective.

To fight against hate speech

To fight for the protection of sources and against all kinds of data retention by governments and corporations

@ Our Vision:

To enhance the Professional, Economical and Social standards of every bonafide Journalist. 

To strive to bring a Special Stringent Law for the Protection of Working Journalists of the State.

@ Safety and Protection

The safety and protection of journalists are at the heart of the NJU’s commitment to media freedom. Working with NJU and safety experts we deliver training, advice, support and campaigns to demand Executive bodies, states and employers take action to protect journalists, fight impunity and enable us to work free from harassment, intimidation and violence.

Our safety fund provides a unique lifeline for journalists facing persecution, threats or in need.

Future of Journalism

@    Future of Journalism

The business model which sustained media for decades is collapsing in many parts of the world. Rapid technological change has both opened up exciting new opportunities for journalism but can also pose widespread threats to jobs, working conditions and quality journalism. Jobs, which were once well paid and secure, are increasingly being replaced with insecure, precarious work with wages so low many are forced to leave the profession.

Major news platforms like Facebook and Google rake in billions in profits but pay few taxes and produce no original news content.   Public service broadcasting, especially television - once the antidote to the excesses of profit-driven media -is increasingly starved of resources or faces severe political pressures to toe the government line.

Media concentration threatens pluralism and democracy by hampering the role of the watchdog which the media ought to play. The NJU believes media is a public good - that media should serve the public interest not political agendas or corporate greed. We stand - whatever the platform - for quality journalism and for journalists to have access to the resources they need, including training, to properly fulfil their functions.   We do not believe journalists can resist the future but they must have a voice in shaping it.

The NJU is working to:

• Carry out research into alternative models of financing journalism
• Lobby to defend public service broadcasting
• Campaign for quality journalism in the public interest
• Help unions and associations to secure a just the transition from legacy media to digital
• Stand up for fair pay and decent conditions in digital media
• Demand social media platforms pay their fair share and help fund content creation
• Advocate for media policies which put the public interest at the heart of journalism
• Fight against media concentration