Nigella job row with the NUJ
Nigella Lawson’s employment as a sub editor on the Review section of
The Sunday Times had caused a row between the NUJ and the paper’s
management.
The NUJ claimed that Nigella, the daughter of the then Chancellor,
Nigel Lawson, had no previous experience as a sub. Sunday Times FoC
David Lipsey said: “To be offered a job on The Sunday Times you have to
have worked for three years in the provinces or on a weekly, or have
specialist qualifications for the job.� Management said as Lawson was
on a freelance contract the rule did not apply. The chapel held a
one-and-a-half hour meeting to discuss the issue but voted against
taking industrial action. It was agreed she could continue in the job
but would undergo training.
Related
Weapons expert jailed in Observer case
Former Ministry of Defence weapons expert Ray Williams was jailed
for six months at Bristol Crown Court for corruptly accepting two
payments totalling £1,500 from The Observer . Williams denied two
charges under the 1906 Corruption Act. The court was told that none of
the information passed to The Observer was classified.
Williams claimed that he was hoping to get a job on the paper as a defence consultant.
Content from our partners
Mirror
journos on whistle-stop rail tour Mirror publisher Robert Maxwell and
some of his top editorial staff had set off on a train journey around
Britain to meet readers. Journalists picked for the trip included Paul
Foot, Marje Proops, John Pilger, Geoffrey Goodman and Anne Robinson.
They
visited 10 cities with the MGN lion and motto: “Forward with Britain�,
emblazoned on the front of the train. Linda Melvern, writing in Press
Gazette , said the round Britain train trip “resembled more than
anything an American election campaign�.
Maxwell drops bombshell on London staff
Robert Maxwell was also in the news after he revealed plans to cut
25 per cent of The Mirror ’s admin staff in London. He said he wanted
“to put right 30 years of mismanagement� and claimed the Mirror Group
had been “living well beyond its means�.
Algy Cluff sells loss-making Spectator
Australian-based John Fairfax (left), publisher of the Sydney
Morning Herald, had bought The Spectator, leading to speculation that
it might be interested in acquiring The Daily Telegraph. The Spectator
had been sold by oil millionaire Algy Cluff and was thought to be
losing £250,000 a year.
FT goes to US via satellite
The Financial Times announced that it was to start printing in
America, the first British national paper to be published daily
overseas by satellite transmission. The total cost of the venture was
£1 million.
On top of the world
Three national newspapers had been piling on circulation.The News of
the World was up to 4,698,341 copies, a massive 16 per cent in the last
six months of 1984 compared to the same period in the previous year — a
gain of 660,468. The huge jump followed the title’s switch to tabloid
the previous May. The Daily Star was also up 16 per cent to 1,633,263.
The Times , boosted by its Portfolio game, was up 23 per cent but, with
a sale of 456,557, still trailed The Guardian which was selling 471,718.
Leaving it to the ladies …
Women
reporters were told by Sergeant-at-Arms of the Texas Senate, Steve
Guest, that the dress code required that they wore bras.
However, asked if the rule was to be enforced, Guest said: “The Sergeant is not going to check.�
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