AHEAD of her first TUC Congress as general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, Laura Davison spoke to the Morning Star about the urgent challenges facing members —  the rise of artificial intelligence, the deadly risks faced by reporters in Gaza, and threats to press freedom at home.

“The future of the media and journalism and how it is sustained is absolutely crucial,” she said. “[Journalism] is essential to the …  democratic principles of the country.

“[Yet] journalists are exposed to horrendous abuse, whether online or in person, particularly at times when there are heightened tensions in a number of different ways. Workers shouldn’t be subject to that.”

She pointed to the NUJ’s new safety tracker, which allows members to log abuse and threats, as a way the union is tackling the issue. Evidence from the system is being used to shape policy and push for better protections.

Davison said the rapid spread of AI was already affecting NUJ members, particularly freelancers, as newsrooms shrink, and especially around issues of copyright.

“Our members’ creative work is being scooped up by massive tech companies, for their own benefit, without any compensation or appropriate safeguards or transparency as far as the creators of that work are concerned,” she said.

The NUJ is campaigning for stronger protections, including proper labelling of AI-generated material and guarantees that human reporting cannot be replaced by flawed automated systems.

The union has launched seminars to equip chapel reps to deal with the issue and is working with the TUC to press for protections.

It has submitted motions to Congress and is standing alongside unions like Equity and the Musicians’ Union, who are dealing with similar issues in their own sectors.

Davison highlighted how some employers were using AI to cut corners, pointing to Apple’s recent decision to withdraw its Apple Intelligence tool after it generated false summaries of news stories.

“[Journalism] is a human endeavour,” she said. “You can’t replace that with artificial, generative intelligence.

“AI tools can be helpful assistive tools in certain ways, for example, around equality of access to material that’s produced.

“But having that assurance that this is human, checked work, and transparency where there may have been any use of AI tools in that process, is crucial to that public trust, which is so fundamental to how we move forward collectively.”

Davison said that trade unions are “fundamental” and play a “core role” in shaping the protections needed.

We also discussed global issues, and she stressed that journalists feel a strong solidarity with colleagues around the world.

The NUJ, she said, has been engaged with the International Federation of Journalists in highlighting attacks on the press, particularly in Gaza, while branches have taken actions in the form of protests and open letters.

More than 230 journalists and media workers have been killed since Israel’s assault began in October 2023.

“Palestinian journalists [are] reporting on the conflict in the most horrendous conditions   —  the things that they have been experiencing are deplorable,” Davison said.

“These journalists are being targeted deliberately because they are the only ones bringing the news.”

Israel prohibits international journalists from entering the besieged strip.

“Where you have [such] impunity, you have a licence for other governments and state actors to behave in a similar way, and obviously that’s completely unacceptable,” Davison said.

“It has to be the case that there is accountability for what’s taken place in the lives of those people.”

The union will be marking the UN’s International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists with events in November.

Concerns about repression are not confined to conflict zones, and we discussed how measures such as the government’s proscription of Palestine Action could have a chilling effect on journalists’ rights in Britain.

“The key thing for our members is their rights and ability to report freely on decisions that are taken on protests,” Davison said.

“Those rights are absolutely crucial and fundamental; the right to report, to protect sources, for the public to be informed, for journalists to record events that are happening in their journalistic capacity, to hold people to account in doing that, and to record where there are divergent views in a democratic country.

“That is what journalism is. If our members are prevented or impeded from doing that, then clearly that is a fundamental problem.”

For Davison, who took office as general secretary in October last year, the Congress is an important chance to strengthen ties with the wider trade union movement.

“I think it’s essential that we work together on these issues, because clearly we’re much stronger if we do that than if we solely operate as individual unions,” she said.

“Our members are in the unique position, as journalists, defending journalism, defending the crucial work that they do.

“The voices of our members are really powerful in communicating that to the wider trade union movement.

“Where journalism is under threat, that is everybody’s issue. Whatever sector you’re working in, having that ability to access sources of journalism and to have broader issues reported is crucial.”