Should only people working for accredited news organisations be able to call themselves journalists?
In the UK there is no statutory definition of a journalist and no legal restriction on who may use the title. HMCTS and police guidance recognise journalists via the voluntary UK Press Card issued through gatekeepers like the NUJ or letters from IPSO/Ofcom-regulated publishers, but freelancers and unaffiliated individuals can qualify on a case-by-case basis. Around 100,000 people describe themselves as journalists, including citizen reporters, bloggers and independent online creators who face the same defamation and contempt laws as professionals.
28 Opinions
Why? They are all now parrots repeating the same stories. Regurgitating pieces written in other outlets. So few are actually able to really go for people on all sides of an issue. Which makes their output biased. I would rather watch videos taken at the scene of incidents and make my own mind up.
The social media landscape as changed the business of news gathering forever, so calling those working for accredited news organizations will disenfranchise all others. However, all those that call themselves journalist should be required to either register with the NUJ or any other regulator the government has tasked with the duty of regulating that industry.
No. Compulsory membership of an accredited organisation such as NUJ should be sufficient.
Who gets to decide is someone is a real journalist ? It sounds like a way of stifling freedom of expression and a way to quietly censor people.
I voted no but you should at least have some form of qualifications or licence to call yourself that
An important part of this is that accreditation should not be gatekept. An organisation willing to sign up to e.g. Impress and be regulated under those terms should be sufficient for accreditation
This seems a dangerous step towards government control as we can see trumps temptations in the US
No although perhaps a licensing (like GMC for Drs) or charter scheme, like chartered accountant would work
A reluctant yes. I'm sure we've all had that experience of friends/family members espousing blatant untruths peddled by attention seekers at both ends of the political spectrum. An independent accreditation holding people to account could make a small difference. Although I can see that campaign against it already 'mainstream media takeover' *eyeroll*
What a ridiculous idea! Have you seen how biased the main stream media is? This would be absolutely ridiculous