The UK's National Union of Journalists' (NUJ) London freelance branch met on Monday in response to growing concern about the potential threat of citizen journalism to freelance journalists.

Following discussion across many union branches and industry sectors, a draft code of practice for citizen journalists has been produced, based on both the NUJ and Press Complaints Commission codes of practice.

The final version is yet to be published, but essentially the code covers union members' two main concerns about citizen journalism; safety and exploitation.

Part of that involves making the public aware of copyright and fair use, so that news organisations do not profit by re-publishing photos years after they are submitted, for example. The finished code is expected in December.

Martin Cloake of the London Magazine branch of the NUJ said he had been concerned that the result of discussing citizen journalism would be that the union 'put its wagons in a circle and shut out the great unwashed'.

But he concluded that the union's role is to protect its members, so it had to ensure that it fully understands and engages with the movement.

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