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	National Union of Journalists guidelines on reporting poverty by NUJ, Church Action on Poverty, agencies United Kingdom   Obese sponger. Jobless mother. Benefits scroungers.. Just a few phrases found in national tabloids in the UK since March. The language is casual, repetitive – and harmful.   Rachel Broady, Equality Officer for the National Union of Journalists’ Manchester and Salford branch, explains how we have been working together to tackle the problem.   Some media uses this language as if it’s acceptable: everyone accepts what a “scrounger” is, no one doubts the existence of “spongers”, and being “jobless” is something to be automatically condemned. With no room for discussion, no place for nuance, and no time, often, for journalists to stop and think, it leads to poor journalism.   The National Union of Journalists provides guidelines on how to fairly and ethically report on many things from suicide, to race, to far-right activities, to gender. They ensure journalists use the right language. They ask journalists to stop and consider what it is that they are writing and culturally contributing to.   The time came for similar guidelines on reporting poverty.   As the government seeks to cut our social security budget and various politicians in positions in power talk of “the welfare state subsidising lifestyles”, the media has become a testing ground for public opinion – and a place where opinion can be shaped. Manchester and Salford Branch of the National Union of Journalists felt such discriminatory reporting needed to be approached in the same way as tackling racism, sexism and homophobia.   It’s easy to assume all journalists believe what they write, understand what they write, and have time to consider how what they write contributes to society. It’s not always the case. Some write what they are told, others regurgitate information, some have no time or energy to think how their article will impact as deadline approaches.   It’s also easy to assume all journalists happily repeat stereotypes and are invested in them. Not at all. Many journalists across the UK launched campaigns to tackle stereotypes and support their readers, viewers and listeners living in poverty.   The NUJ produced a set of guidelines: six short statements. It asked its members to recognise their responsibility in adding to stereotypes of the people experiencing poverty.   The NUJ believes that the development of discriminatory language and the demonisation of the working poor and benefit recipients, through the use of stereotypes and misinformation, is an insult to workers, trade union organisations and readers.   The NUJ believes that its members as trade unionists cannot avoid a measure of responsibility in fighting stereotypes of the working poor and benefit recipients as expressed through the mass media.   The NUJ reaffirms its total opposition to censorship, but equally reaffirms its belief that press freedom must be conditioned by responsibility, and a resolution by all media workers not to allow press freedom to be abused to slander a section of the community.   The NUJ believes that newspapers and magazines should not originate material which encourages discrimination on grounds of being working poor or a benefit recipient.   The NUJ believes that editors should ensure that coverage of social security stories should be placed in a balanced context.   The NUJ will continue to monitor the development of media coverage in this area and give support to members seeking to enforce the above aims.   From this came a collaboration with Church Action on Poverty and a Guide to Reporting Poverty for journalists. The wording comes not from journalists but from people who are and have experienced being in receipt of benefits and living in poverty.   It offers fact-checks, real-life experience and a chance for reporters to hear genuine voices. These are just some of the comments included:   “Journalists need to realise that the majority of people suffering within poverty did not put themselves in that situation by choice.”   “Don’t use labels like lazy, cheating, skiving, feckless, anti-social – lumping all people in poverty under these labels, like we have no value. We do have value and this should be reported too.”   “People living in poverty have dignity. That humanity and dignity is taken away because of how the media portrays them.”   It is hoped the Reporting Poverty guide will be used in regional and national newsrooms, going some way to challenging the casual, repetitive and harmful language that stereotypes and vilifies a section of our communities.   http://realbenefits-street.com/blog/525/ http://realbenefits-street.com/launch-of-nuj-guidelines-for-journalists-reporting-poverty/   * Access the guidelines here: http://www.church-poverty.org.uk/news/pressroom/stigma/nuj/nujguide Visit the related web page
	Digital technologies should supplement, and not substitute face to face teaching by Kishore Singh UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education   “Digital technologies should reduce inequalities in society, not widen them,” says the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Kishore Singh, during the presentation of his report on the ‘Right to Education in the Digital Age’ to the Human Rights Council.   In his report, which examines how digital technology is transforming the landscape of higher education, and considers its implications for the right to education, Mr. Singh urges all Governments across the world “to ensure that the use of digital technologies in education promotes access, quality and equity in education, and does not undermine them.”   “Technology in education provides important benefits, but it can also impair the right to education if inequitably implemented,” the human rights expert cautioned while calling on States “to take special care that marginalization and disparities are not allowed to grow.”   “Governments must ensure that the digital divide in education, both between States and within them, is progressively reduced,” the Special Rapporteur said. He noted that in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Governments have stressed the need to bridge the digital divide, and stressed that “States must make the elimination of digital divides a key priority as we implement this Agenda.”   According to the independent expert, public policies have not kept pace with the rapid developments in digital technologies. “Governments must ensure that their legislation and policies are updated to protect the right to education,” he added.   Noting the rapid developments in massive open online courses and online learning, Mr. Singh expressed concern that digital technologies should supplement, and not substitute face to face teaching and human interaction.   “States must take measures to ensure that the right to education in the digital age is not violated by private providers,” the Special Rapporteur said urging Governments to guard against abusive practices in online learning and delivery diplomas. “The intellectual community and civil society should raise public debates to ensure education remains a public good and not for private profit,” he added.   The expert noted the need to amend copyright laws “to allow for greater non-profit use in education, and States should support the development of free, online open education resources for all.”   “I also call upon the United Nations treaty bodies, and the Universal Periodic Review mechanism, to look into the use of digital technology in education,” Mr. Singh added, “to ensure that the norms and principles of the right to education are protected, and that technology strengthens this right, rather than undermining it.”   The Special Rapporteur concluded by noting that digital technologies are negatively affecting students by impairing their ability to contemplate and think critically. “Universities are the moral seat of learning, and must foster common human values,” he underscored. Visit the related web page
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