Battle lines drawn at NUJ
Photographers from the National Union of Journalists claim that their union has deserted them after penning a controversial agreement in Ireland that endorses reporters carrying cameras.
The house agreement at the Drogheda Independent, a weekly title in east Ireland, is yet to be accepted but has divided the union and sparked angry online debates, with some photographers threatening to leave the union in protest.
They claim the agreement at the title, which is owned by Independent News & Media, Ireland's largest newspaper group, threatens the future of press photography as it will allow the paper to train reporters to use cameras thereby putting photographers out of work.
Negotiating table
The agreement came about after six months of negotiations led by Des Fagan, the NUJ Irish organiser, and Seamus Dooley, the Irish secretary, who is also number three in the NUJ pecking order.
The need for a new house agreement was driven by the publisher's decision to withdraw from the national negotiation body for regional newspapers in Ireland, which the 23 staff members of the Drogheda Independent Chapel believed would have a negative impact on their ongoing campaign for improved terms and conditions.
The agreement does offer improved pay and better working conditions, including flexible hours and maternity leave benefits for the Drogheda Independent staff. However, it is said to be the first in Union history that officially supports reporters carrying cameras. Photographers claim this goes against a former NUJ rule that, 'A member who is a staff reporter shall not normally take photographs ... (and) Freelance reporters shall not take photographs ... if by so doing they deprive another freelance of income'. This rule was removed after the Union's Annual Delegates Meeting earlier this year.
The agreement was accepted by the Drogheda Independent Chapel by 20 votes to two, claims the NUJ, but remains unratified. Editorial Photographers UK (EPUK), which has been vociferous in its attack of the NUJ, relates that the NUJ's Irish Executive Committee (IEC) has referred the decision to accept or reject the agreement to the Union's National Executive Committee, but added the recommendation that it should not go through in its present form.
Battle lines
However, those behind the agreement seem confident it will go through and claim that reporters carrying cameras is simply a sign of the times. Dooley told EPUK: 'We cannot ignore the reality that change is happening all around us - in all areas of journalism', and likened the plight of the critics to 'trying to protect virginity long after it's been soiled'. However, this was countered by IEC member Norma Prendiville, who claims that the Limerick Leader, when faced with an identical demand from its management, refused. She wrote in an open letter, '... we were put under pressure to accept that reporters would carry cameras for certain kinds of shots ... We said it would be a deal-breaker if they tried to persist and we went all the way to mediation and then voted against the proposed agreement ... We got our new house agreement, having secured a better rate than that offered to the Drogheda Independent but crucially without reporters having to concede cameras'.
Far reaching consequences?
While EPUK recognises that picture-taking reporters do exist, it contends that it is the fact that the NUJ has 'rubber-stamped' this agreement that is the issue, and its ramifications for other titles. A comment on the EPUK website states: 'It is simply inevitable that the owners of the Drogheda Independent will want to extend the deal they've struck throughout their 165 titles ... Needless to say though it won't stop at the Independent title: why should it? Other publishers will seek the same working arrangements, and the NUJ will be happy to help them dispense with photographers' services ...'.
However, writing to BJP, NUJ deputy general secretary John Fray, said that this will not be the case. 'There is no reason why the agreement should have massive effects across the press photography industry. This is not some sort of master plan to eliminate professional photography'. He added that the Drogheda agreement includes the setting up of a working party that will marshal the implementation of the new agreement.
The newspaper's human resources director, Declan Carlyle added that the deal will not affect any staff photographers, because the title does not have any, nor will it impact professional photographers that are currently brought in. He wrote in a letter to Seamus Dooley: 'The Drogheda Independent recognises that professional photography will continue to play an important part in the content of its publications, but not in every image that is published. However, it is not proposed to simply hand out digital cameras to all staff.'
Future hanging in the balance
However, one of the four contract photographers at the title remains unconvinced by the promises being made. Sinead Sarsfield claims she makes more than 90% of her income from the title. She was not aware of the negotiations until a chance conversation with a colleague. She told The Guardian media columnist, Roy Greenslade: 'If this agreement goes through, it's the beginning of the end for photojournalists. It's already a very sad state of affairs when so few papers in the world actually give proper space to photographs ... Are we now to lose jobs to reporters who are unskilled and uninterested in the quality of a photograph?' She adds that she will leave her job if the agreement goes through, despite the NUJ promise that her contract will not be affected.
A meeting of the NUJ's National Executive Committee is scheduled for 21 September and the Drogheda Agreement is expected to be on the agenda.
