The Relevance of Journalist Unions
Oct 29th, 2007 by Dan Blank
Jeff Jarvis looks at reasoning behind resigning from the National Union of Journalists.
“… the union, as with the print unions of old, cannot possibly adapt to meet the revolutionary demands of a new technology.”
“There is a difference, of course. The skills of compositors and linotype operators were eradicated by computer setting and on-screen composition. Journalistic skills are not entirely wiped out in an online world, but they are eroded and, most importantly, they cannot be confined any longer to an exclusive élite group. Secondly, the union’s internal demarcations - such as reporter-photographer, reporter-sub, reporter-camera operator - are now utterly irrelevant. All of us must be multi-media journos from now on.”