The Wales Council of the NUJ (National Union of Journalists) meets tomorrow and one item under discussion will be an effort by the Swansea branch to explore new ways of making journalism pay.
The background is diminishing employment opportunities in the traditional media; the opportunity is the fast-evolving new media landscape and technology. Wherever it's leading, we want to reach that destination.
Working at Parc y Scarlets as a rugby PR guy, I won't make the Cardiff meeting - but good people in the form of Ken Smith and Mike Burrows will be there fighting our branch's corner. It'd be good to get positive feedback and offers of support and guidance from the council as the Swansea case won't be an isolated one. Newspapers, radio stations and TV channels all over the UK are shedding jobs so something needs to be done to retain and use the skills these jettisoned journos have.
Things are changing dramatically and many regions, cities and towns may soon find themselves in a professional journalism desert. The powers that be and the holders of our public purse strings will find themselves protected by a clogged up information filtration system. Worse, the public will lose a lively tier of entertainment and independent news.
Swansea are looking at the possibility of being a catalyst in the creation of a multi-media thoroughly modern news agency. A working party is looking at key areas such as governmental aid for young businesses, partnerships with academia, tie-ups and with cooperative and development trust movements and, of course, links with like-minded union groups and activists.
I hope the union's Wales Council give a great deal of honest and open thought to what Ken and Mike have to report.
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