Students encounter Union’s Renewed “fighting spirit”
Posted on April 5, 2008 - Filed Under Journalism, Media |
Journalism students from Coventry University have spent the last three days at the National Union of Journalists‘ Annual Delegates Meeting in Belfast.
The meeting was held in the Europa, the province’s most-bombed hotel during the height of the troubles. The hotel’s re-building process is in many ways reminiscent of the NUJ’s.
The prominent message journalism students Daniel Berry, Jason Craig and Iain Green took from their time at the conference was the Union’s constant aim to re-kindle its “fighting spirit”.
Speaking at a student conference which was part of the event, the NUJ General Secretary, Jeremy Dear, pointed out that technology does not necessarily mean that fewer journalists can complete more work in less time.
“We don’t reject technological change,” said Dear, “but instead seek to shape the future so it serves not the corporations, but the citizens, not the accountants but journalists and journalism.”
Journalists from across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland were in attendance for the three-day conference which started on Friday, April 4.
The experiences gained and the contacts made will no doubt prove to be of immense importance for the three hopefuls as they will be entering the world of work after one more year of study.
Senior lecturer in journalism at Coventry University, John Lister - a staunch NUJ activist - believes student participation is very important.
“It gives students a flavour of the range of activities the Union does, and if we start to deliver an active component of the Union in Coventry University, then we can continue to receive support from the Birmingham and Coventry branch,” he said.
“We have now made those links and these will help our links with the Coventry Telegraph.”
The most significant media figure to speak at the ADM was BBC journalist and NUJ member, Alan Johnston.
Johnston was abducted near the Gaza strip in March of last year and released after four months in captivity, with help from Hamas security forces.
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
