for diverse, democratic and accountable media
Jeremy Dear's Momentous Decade...
podcasts |After ten years at the helm, Jeremy Dear is stepping down as General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists. Nicholas Jones talks to him on the eve of his departure about his views on journalism, the changing nature of the industry and how the NUJ must respond to the vast changes it has witnessed and continues to witness.
The last decade has seen savage retrenchement in the news media - the decimation of our once proud and prosperous local press; the loss of much loved regional television programmes; a dramatic fall in the sales of national daily and Sunday newspapers; and a seemingly endless process of salami slicing in the output of national broadcasters like the BBC and ITV.
Thousands of reporters, photographers, radio and television broadcasters and producers have lost their jobs. Of course, workers in all sorts of industries and services have faced a similar level of closure and redundancy, and to their great regret many of those employees have lost a distinctive trade union voice to represent their interest. But that's not be so for jouirnalists. We still have the National Union of Journalists - a strong and independent voice in the shifting sands of the modern media marketplace of today.
Steering his way through the unprecedented turbulence of the last decade has been the journalists' general secretary, Jeremy Dear, who was first elected in 2001 and stands down in 2011 after ten pretty momentous years at the helm of the National Union of Journalists.
DATELINE: 2 August, 2011
Share