Meetings take place online in a chatroom format – saving the union around £3,000 in travel expenses for council members.
One of the key issues discussed this week concerned the news web site Ananova. Staff at the publication, which employs around 50 journalists, are concerned about new contracts that may affect their working practices.
The NUJ is trying to broker a recognition agreement with the firm. If successful, it would be the first web-only publication in the UK to recognise the union.
The case has now been referred to the government’s Central Arbitration Committee.
The OMJC, now in its third year, was established by the union to provide support and advice on a range of issues including redundancies, contractual issues, bullying and discrimination.
Jenny Lennox, NUJ officer for the online journalism sector, told dotJournalism how the council was set up.
"We recognised that we had to do something to support web journalists, although there was much discussion over whether a separate council was needed," she said.
"Many people questioned whether web journalists should have the same status as traditional journalists.
"Some members felt that online journalism is no different to broadcasting, as journalists for the BBC news site would come under the broadcasting category. Similarly, journalists for Guardian Unlimited would be covered by the newspaper category.
"Other members felt that web journalism was just PR."
Eventually, the union decided to recognise the need to support web journalists due to the growing number of standalone news sites.
Overall, the NUJ has 34,000 members and is divided into industrial councils to look after each specialist area including newspapers and agencies, press and PR, freelance and broadcasting.
The OMJC currently responds to the needs of its members on an ad hoc basis, but Ms Lennox expects the OMJC to become a full industrial council to formally support the UK’s web journalists.
The next OMJC meeting will take place in mid-October. UK web journalists with issues or concerns about their employment can contact Jenny Lennox at jennyl@nuj.org.uk.
See also:
http://www.nuj.org.uk
http://www.ananova.com
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