NUJ to negotiate with Scotsman over blog post sacking

The National Union for Journalists (NUJ) is to take up technology journalist Nick Clayton's case with the Scotsman at the start of next week.

Paul Holleran, Scottish organiser at the NUJ, told Journalism.co.uk that the 'union are looking for a constructive meeting' before deciding what type of action to pursue. 

Freelance journalist Nick Clayton was sacked from writing his technology column for the Scotsman's Saturday magazine on September 19 following a comment he made on his blog for external website Allmediascotland (AMS) about the lack of effectiveness of advertising property in the Scotsman.

Clayton was told he was fired by Alison Gray, editor of the magazine, just hours after the AMS post was put live.

Speaking to Journalism.co.uk earlier this week Clayton said he had heard nothing more from the Scotsman, after the initial sacking.

"I'm surprised I haven't had an email, or something from the editor. As far as I know they seem to have shut up shop and haven't spoken to anybody.

"My guess is that somebody in the ad department picked it [the AMS article] up through Google Alerts, who thought 'our job is difficult enough without people writing things like this about us' and that it got bumped down the line and it ended up with the magazine editor. They probably didn't think too hard about it," he said. 

Clayton, who was previously the Scotsman's full-time technology editor, said he had never met current editor, Mike Gilson.

"He would have no idea who I was probably. As far as he was concerned I was just some guy being paid a pittance to do a little piece each week. I guess that was his thinking, but who knows?"

Clayton said he had the 'usual sort of verbal contract, as is normal with these sort of things'.

The original comment was made 'in passing' he said, and that omitting it would not have altered the tenor of the piece at all.

"It just seems to be an over reaction – it's just hard to see as a wider context than that. There's some American website which [makes me out] to be some hero of the class struggle but it's [just] me: it's just a colossal over-reaction to a minor comment.

"If it had been me telling some awful secret then it would have been different."

"Anybody's vulnerable," he said, especially online and freelance journalists who have flexible employment arrangements.

Holleran said as a freelance online journalist 'you're working alone and you don't have anyone to bounce off'. He also expressed concern about 'woolly contractual arrangements'.

Clayton, whose original blog post was about selling his own flat, joked that he had received a promotional call this week asking him if he had considered advertising the property in the Scotsman.

Following Clayton's dismissal, Trine Grung, a Norwegian television presenter, found herself out of a presenting job this week after writing a blog post about another colleague, Media Culpa has reported.

"Take Elin Tvedt... beautiful girl and very nice as well... but in terms of the media, what has she really achieved? "71 Degrees North" is an equally big success without her, "A Night with Elin" was a flop, given the boot from NRK because she's INCAPABLE of interviewing people! Weather presenter at TV2 (she is very well suited for that job). Besides from that, what has she done? NOTHING! She generates newspaper front pages every time she shows up, and we as readers are fooled by a beautiful exterior!," read the original post.

The blog post has now been deleted from her site but not before Grung was sacked from the programme: "Bli ny: Mor og datter" ("Get a makeover: mother and daughter"). She has retained her overall contract with the television channel, the Pro-Sieben owned TV Norge.

Free daily newsletter

If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).