The Indian Journalists Union and its six State affiliates --- Journalist Union of Assam, Odisha Journalists Union, Tripura Journalists Union, Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalists, Uttar Pradesh Working Journalists Union (Regd) and TamilNadu All Media Journalists Union have embarked on a project ‘Change is Key, Get Digitalised’with the IFJ in furtherance of Union To Union project –Stronger Unions For Stronger Media, to usher in change.
COVID-19 has crippled economy across the globe. Media, like the rest, has been badly hit with journalists facing unprecedented times be it loss of jobs, salary cuts, forced unpaid leave, intimidation by governments etc. These issues, particularly in the digital media need to be assessed and addressed by the Union to draw up a strategy for future. It is critical to rework strategy as a union, engage with young generation journalists to encourage solidarity and strengthen the trade union movement.
Thus, the project partners are working to strengthen and reform IJU and reinforce their capability to act and respond to the digital world, understand its members’ strategic needs for new skills, gain confidence of younger, digital and women journalists and equip them with requisite new skills.
A month-long campaign has been initiated in the States to enhance attractiveness of IJU among young and women journalists, especially working for the digital media through effective media campaign, which would address the most important issues connected to the media situation in India and consequences of the pandemic for Indian journalists. More the members, stronger are the unions.
Under the project, three webinars were held dealing with specific issues as digitalisation of media, gender equality and strengthening of labour movement The three webinars had experts dealing with the respective subjects and uprising the online participance of the developments in the ongoing pandemic in the media. The webinars well attended by the six project state union members.
The project partners in the six states also held meetings both online and offline to chart out a course of reforms that the unions need to undertake to strengthen the movement as well as encourage women, digital, and second-rung leadership for greater involvement in the union. Some of these were held to also mark the National Press Day. These include:
