21.10.09
UPDATED 23.10.09 Further
updates
EXCLUSIVE by
Fiona O'Cleirigh
Concerns about a candidate not declaring his political
affiliation in the Journalist editorship election have been raised
in the house of lords.
A life peer who is a member of the national union of journalists (NUJ),
which publishes the Journalist magazine for its members, raised the
matter in a written parliamentary question.
Lord Laird of Artigarvan, the well-known public-relations figure in
Northern Ireland, said: “I under-stand that one of the candidates standing
for this key position has an affiliation with a particular group within the
union, one that he did not declare in election material sent to the electorate.
In my opinion, undeclared factionalism is not acceptable.”
The crossbench peer continued: “In union elec-tions, I think
people should be suspicious of the candidates and, where possible, opt for
the independent.”
Laird began work in public relations in 1973, and from 1976 to 2005,
was chairman of John Laird Public Relations, which became Northern Ireland’s
premier PR agency.
An Ulster Unionist and former Stormont MP in Belfast during the early
1970’s, Laird says that he has been an NUJ member for nearly thirty
years.
Laird asked the department of business, innov-ation and skills, which
is headed by Lord Mandel-son, in a written question: “What proposals
they have to require trade unions who elect their national officers to publish
their political affiliations at the time of such elections.”
Lord Young of Norwood Green, minister for em-ployment relations, responded
by saying: “The government has no proposals of this kind.”
The post of editor of the Journalist is being con-tested in
an election after the enforced retirement of Tim Gopsill, who has held the
post for 21 years. The editorship election takes place every five years, although
Gopsill won two polls but was elected un-opposed twice.
Of eight NUJ members seeking election, one has been identified as
the “NUJ
Left” candidate even
though no declaration was made in the campaign material sent by the union
to the electorate, including the election address. Voters could, however,
have identified him by looking in Socialist Worker, or the website
of “NUJ Left”,
or by running
a Google search.
Candidates’ election addresses are required by law to be distributed
with postal ballots to voters, but there is no legal requirement for political
affiliations to be declared.
“NUJ Left” describes itself as an “inclusive coal-ition
of activists” committed to “identifying and tar-geting key elected
posts and NEC [national executive council] seats” and ensuring that
“senior lay and elected left officials are accountable to NUJ Left.”
Fiona
O’Cleirigh is a researcher, journalist and television producer. She
has declared her supp-ort for the Mark
Watts campaign. She is also a
member of the NUJ’s London freelance branch.
Comment
on this article
Watts unmasks ‘NUJ
Left’ candidate in circular
C4 News anchor Jon
Snow backs Watts for editor
Former BBC political
reporter supports Watts
Top journalists back
Watts election campaign
More journalists
support election bid by Watts
Watts campaigns for independent
Journalist
FOIA
specialist in election for Journalist editorship
Journalistic background
of Mark Watts
Comments
on Journalist election (7)
Headlines
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