For an inquiry into misinformation and disinformation

THE LONDON Freelance Branch Committee passed the following motion at its meeting last week. It was taken to the National Union of Journalists Ethics Council, which agreed in principle to take up the initiative - in particular defined cases, within its resources.

London Freelance Branch reaffirms its commitment to upholding journalistic integrity and combating the proliferation of fake news; and its support for measures to promote responsible journalism, fact-checking, journalist accountability, media literacy education, and advocacy for stricter media ethics regulations.

The Branch recalls its motion 95, passed at the NUJ's most recent Delegate Meeting, which made it the NUJ's policy that "The Ethics Council needs the power to investigate particular instances and areas of journalism outside the disciplinary context and produce reports that can be publicised in the interest of raising professional standards. It should have the power to do so at the request from any established NUJ body - chapel, branch or national - but not from individuals. Any union member involved in the production of the work concerned shall have the right to be consulted in the exercise."

The Branch now requests the Ethics Council to open an investigations into allegations of unethical reporting and the propagation of misinformation and disinformation in the current situation in Gaza; we note that, particularly in the current situation in Gaza, such misinformation and disinformation may constitute complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Branch requests the Ethics Council to collaborate with like-minded organisations to promote ethical reporting and to give support to whistleblowers when necessary. It calls on the NUJ to widely publicise the conclusions of its investigations.

The Branch further asks the NUJ National Executive Council immediately to take steps to publicise the International Federation of Journalists reminder to all journalists of our duty to "provide information in the public interest". As the IFJ statement of 19 October says, article 5 of the IFJ's Global Code of Ethics for Journalists, to which all newsrooms should commit themselves, reminds us that "the notion of urgency or immediacy in the dissemination of information shall not take precedence over the verification of facts and sources..." Article 2 of the NUJ's Code of Conduct insists that "A journalist... strives to ensure that information disseminated is honestly conveyed, accurate and fair."

The motion was to have been debated at the November Branch meeting, but it ran out of time. The Committee will present a new motion to Branch members at the first opportunity.

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