Survey examines employment and industrial relations in journalism

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Over October 2004-February 2005, the VPRC opinion poll company conducted a survey of employment, industrial relations and gender inequalities in the Greek journalism sector. The research examines issues such as the structure of employment, multiple job-holding, pay and working time.

In February 2005, the VPRC opinion poll company published a survey on employment, industrial relations and gender inequalities in the mass media sector, and on the structure of the journalism, which was conducted from October 2004 to February 2005. This is the continuation of an earlier similar survey conducted from December 2001 to February 2002 (GR0203101F), but narrows its field of investigation to Athens, where the largest proportion of journalists and the key enterprises in this field are concentrated.

Main findings

According to the survey data, 58% of journalists are men and 42% women. Most journalists fall into the 25-34 and 35-44 age groups (41% and 39% respectively). According to the journalists, the biggest problems they face relate to low pay (39%) and the irregular employment common in this profession, as expressed by arduous working hours, employers’ 'arbitrariness', and uninsured work (35%). For women journalists these latter problems are of more concern (for around 46%), since women face greater job insecurity, according to the survey.

The survey finds that the distribution of journalists by type of main employment is: 44% employed by daily newspapers; 6% by weekly newspapers; 28% by TV channels; 15% by radio news stations; 3% by news agencies; and 3% by public sector press offices etc. Around 49% of journalists are employed exclusively in their medium of main employment. However, there is a high rate of multiple job-holding; the data indicate that 40% of journalists hold two jobs, 5% hold three jobs and 2% hold four jobs. The largest proportion of journalists working in more than one job are men, 56% of whom hold a second or even a third job, in contrast to women, only 42% of whom hold more than one job. Although multiple job-holding continues to be a characteristic of male journalists, it appears to be increasing at a rapid pace among women journalists as well.

With regard to pay, the survey finds that not all journalists who are on the payroll of their main employer are paid on the basis of the collective agreement with the Athens Daily Newspaper Journalists’ Union (ESIEA). Some 14% are paid on the basis of another agreement (eg that for office staff). Of the journalists who work for one main employer but are not included on the payroll and do not receive regular pay, 90% are paid as providers of independent services, and 10% state that they are paid in 'other ways'. As concerns the amount of pay, 47% receive the exact amounts laid down in the ESIEA collective agreement, 11% are paid less and 36% are paid more.

Despite the plethora of multiple job-holders and their tendency to increase in numbers, along with long average working hours (50 hours a week), the financial position of journalists as a whole appears to be weak. Around 70% of respondents had individual monthly incomes of less than EUR 2,000, and such incomes were not exclusively the product of their work in the field of journalism. As individual monthly incomes increase, so do working hours. It could therefore be suggested that, by and large, multiple job-holding among journalists is due to their low pay, and their decision to hold multiple jobs does not perceptibly raise their levels of pay.

Commentary

Three basic conclusions regarding the structure of journalism in Greece may be drawn from the survey data. The first is that journalism shows a low degree of 'rationalisation' in employment conditions and industrial relations. Numerous forms of pay were noted, along with extremely flexible working hours. Multiple job-holding appears to have become lawful in practice, and multiple forms of social insurance coverage exist side by side. The second conclusion, which is interlinked with the first, is that despite the fact that the vast majority of journalists are paid employees (in private or public enterprises), the forms of flexible employment that have become predominant have driven many journalists to acquire another, supplementary capacity, usually that of self-employed person. In accordance with the above, the overall picture of journalism is that 61% of journalists are employed exclusively by private enterprises, 11% are employed exclusively by the state, 2% are employed simultaneously by a private and a public enterprise, and 8% are exclusively self-employed. There also exists a range of other combinations where the capacity of employer, self-employed person and employed earner may coexist. All this leads to the conclusion that great internal social contradictions may be observed in journalism, contradictions that accentuate the fluidity already existing in the sector, shape professional behaviour and make it difficult in present conditions to manage the sector’s interests as a whole.

One basic conclusion emerges from all the above data. Greek journalists, both men and women, continue to experience a 'professional alienation'. Their conditions seem to be in a great or even radical contradiction to the collective product of their labour (in terms of the quality of information provided), and at the same time as a profession their self-esteem is low. The situation is exacerbated by the problems stemming from low pay, which in turn increases multiple job-holding and job insecurity. It is therefore arguably necessary that all competent authorities take drastic action and adopt proposals and solutions so as to eliminate the serious employment problems entailed in the structure of journalism as a profession. (Anda Stamati, INE/GSEE)